Rep. Jim Townsend’s, R-Artesia, (guest column in the Jan. 23 Journal) regarding how to fix the education system in New Mexico shows a lack of understanding of what the actual issues are facing our state, our students and our teachers.
The idea that school choice will solve our issues is false for two main reasons. The first is that it does not actually address the core issues in education. We know from other states that have open enrollment, vouchers for private schools and charter schools, that they do not inherently increase student outcomes. If we learned anything from the debacle that was No Child Left Behind, it is that removing funding from struggling schools does not actually help them; it only causes the problems to get worse.
The second reason why school choice does not solve any of our issues is that, unless the representative plans on opening multiple private schools and charters in every town and village in New Mexico, there simply are not enough of these schools to be effective. This proposal will harm our rural schools and will do absolutely nothing to help our students or our teachers. The representative wants to apply a business solution to a societal issue, and anyone with a passing glimpse of education knows that this will not work. The representative’s advocacy does nothing to solve the issues of funding inequality, it does nothing to address the lack of qualified teachers and paraprofessionals, and, most importantly, it ignores the vast amount of research that tells us how to actually solve the problem.
In order to fix our schools, we must admit something that we are all hesitant to address: It is our society that is broken. Schools have to act as all-in-one settings where teachers must be healer, educator, councilor, parent, confidant and so many different roles that they are not able to focus on one. If we truly want to fix our schools, we must fix our society in ways that actually help those who are in need. It is keeping our rural hospitals open, it is making sure students and parents can receive the medical services they need, it is changing the entire discussion around who we are and what we want for our kids.
Finally, I would challenge the representative to have an open and honest discussion with teachers in a forum that is broadcast publicly. If the representative truly cares about our school system, it is only logical he would be willing to do this. Otherwise, he is simply trying to score political points on the back of our students, and this teacher and my students have absolutely no time for this level of nonsense.
