I'm not one to profess any expertise on public education, but here's a new program in my hometown, Pittsburgh Pa. (the Steel City), that may prove effective in improving student performance in inner city public schools.
The Pittsburgh Promise is a college fund that provides college tuition incentives for city school kids who stay in school and commit to going to college in the Pittsburgh area and possibly staying there to work. The program received a sizable endowment recently, and could give hope that if the private and non-profit sectors play a role, they can improve student performance by incentivizing it. I would hope, though, that the benefactors maintain a hands-off approach on changing curriculum or dictating how a public school system must manage itself.
The current of state of public finance on all levels is a mess, with a massive federal deficit and many states looking at fiscal issues of their own. Thus, the solution to public education's problems in inner cities cannot be found in increased funding. Creating new incentives for students to pursue college (and get a big tuition bonus) is a pretty good way to motivate.
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3 years ago
1 comment:
interesting scheme! here the Conservative party is hugely keen on getting private and non-profit sector to plug holes in public sector funding by use of endowments/direct investment. to be honest i think it allows federal/local government off the hook a little and is a generally a poor substitute for real public investment in education/health/transport etc through fair taxation, but where there are immediate needs for incentives to eg higher education this kind of programme is great!
of the the US has a great tradition of philanthropic endowment from rich business people which we're just getting to grips with here - unfortunately the earliest examples are Christian fundies setting up schools that teach (amongst other things) creationism...!
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