End of School Year Reflections--Where Are The Success Stories?

As another school year comes to a close and another class of graduating seniors prepares to leave the confines of high school, it is naturally a time to take stock in the academic preparation of yet another cohort of school kids. Of course, we can sit back a lament the poor state of American education, about the eroding confidence in our public schools, the distrust of administrators by teachers, the distrust of teachers by administrators, and on and on.

But surely there is some good news out there. Here is one that is touted as a public school success:

In the public schools, Joel Vargas has learned, the rules are sometimes nothing more than a starting point in negotiations. Take the rule that you have to spend a full year at a high school before transferring. Joel broke that rule twice in a single month. And it’s a big reason why he’s going to Yale next year.

But even the story of Joel Vargas is simply a veil for an indictment of the New York Public Schools.

So many of the public school success stories are presented like those of Joel Vargas, with the same plot line--"poor kid ignores the rules and against all odds goes on to ________ (insert name of top tier university here)." That is not to say that these stories are not worthy of publication and airing as there are always lessons to be learned from such stories, but they don't really reveal what is right, and hopefully replicable, in our public schools.

But good news travels slowly and bad news like the speed of light. This quote (from a Washington Post Magazine article on global warming skeptics--a good one by the way) is the best explanation for this phenomenon:

In a media-saturated world, it's hard to get anyone's attention without cranking the volume.

snip

The news media -- always infatuated with doom (were it not for the obvious ramifications for ratings and circulation, the media would love to cover the End of the World) -- struggle to resist the most calamitous-sounding ... scenarios.

So the media, and I admit, people like me with a political agenda regarding schools, often portray only the worst about the schools, or couch the best about schools as an exception while building a case against the public schools.

Despite my predilection for much more choice in education, I have never advocated for the elimination of public schools. Rather, I see the government as one provider of education services among many. We all know, and I am constantly reminded by commenters to this site and others, that not all is bad in public education.

So what is good in public education? I am asking an honest, heart-felt question and looking for real responses. I don't intend to turn my quest for good news into an stinging rebuke of public schools.

by the way, while Joel Vargas's story and those like his are inspiring, give me something more, something systemic, not individual.

So what I would like is some links and pointers to good news about public schools. Please post in the Comments for all to see.