Public School Curriculum Analysis

In order to understand the motivation behind how these narrow curriculums are structured, one only has to look at the major supporters of these programs. The fixation with producing higher test scores doesn’t come as a surprise when one realizes that money follows the ability to boost these arbitrary measures of intelligence. Choice programs are largely privately funded, especially voucher schools, which leads to questions about the motivations behind their creation and success. Programs like Rocketship are not shaped solely around the desire to help students achieve, but are also influenced by the profits of the private investors that fund them (Lafer 2014). Funding will always be a factor when it comes to education, but the idea that …show more content…
The world of education can be slow moving, and those who seek to innovate will garner support in the hope of eventual improvement. Much of the support behind choice schools stems from a frustration with the lack of academic achievement within the Milwaukee Public School system. A majority of the major proponents of choice schools claim that the program will ensure higher academic achievement for all students. However, evaluations have shown that there is no significant difference in the achievement of students at choice schools versus students in the Milwaukee Public School system (Molnar 1998: 10). In fact, throughout the U.S., only 17% of charter schools outperform public schools, and 37% perform worse (Steele 2012). One study even found that fourth-graders from voucher schools were as proficient, if not less, than MPS fourth-graders in math and reading (Borsuk 2009). This lack of improvement in academic achievement has the potential to create negative lasting impacts on the lives of so many Milwaukee children. The fact that students are even achieving below the present rate in public schools is a cause for major concern. It begs the question, what is it about these schools, which boast such different academic practices, that causes student achievement rates to remain stagnant or even plunge lower than their public counterparts? Many choice schools do not hire as large of a staff as public schools, thus creating big classes with large student to teacher ratios. This leads to a decrease in individual attention and puts a lot of stress on teachers. Smaller class sizes marginally benefit lower-class students and students of color as teachers are able to provide more individual attention and are less likely to burn out (Lafer 2014). Without these adequate spaces it is no