Curious: Do the teachers in your area have school choice?.....

[Michelle in GA]

i.e., can they choose which school their dc can attend? I ask, because in our neighborhood, our local highschool has gone downhill. The teachers who live here however, can bypass the bad school and send their kids to the better school outside our district;a school that I would consider sending my son, but cannot becasue I do not have that choice. This really perturbs me! Is this true everyhwere--or just in my neck of the woods? The very idea that teachers unions are against school choice for my family and others, and yet perserve that choice for themseleves really tees me off!

[Valerie in Chicago]

But not specifically for teachers.

And don't even get me started on the unions! DH is a HS teacher at one of the magnet schools in Chicago. And he refuses to join the union. They still take a chunk out of his paycheck though.

In Chicago, you can apply for magnet programs, magnet schools, classical schools, etc etc. The process is, of course, ridiculous. And there are never enough slots for everyone who wants to get in. For example, there's a wonderful school called The LaSalle Language Academy. 60 slots for Kindergarten. 800-900 applications every year.

As a teacher, however, I don't think that there is a preference given. If you can do something for the school, however, you might be in (e.g.: coach the basketball team)

Now let me talk out of the other side of my mouth here....

A few years ago, families in the rock-bottom schools were given the option to send their kids to better-performing schools outside of their neighborhoods. I think only about 2% of those who were offered the chance to do this actually took advantage of it.

But the essence of your post is understandable -- why should one group get a choice and leave the others without one? Wouldn't it be more equitable to give that choice to *everyone?*

[Caroline]

i.e., can they choose which school their dc can attend? I ask, because in our neighborhood, our local highschool has gone downhill. The teachers who live here however, can bypass the bad school and send their kids to the better school outside our district;a school that I would consider sending my son, but cannot becasue I do not have that choice. This really perturbs me! Is this true everyhwere--or just in my neck of the woods? The very idea that teachers unions are against school choice for my family and others, and yet perserve that choice for themseleves really tees me off!

First of all, since I see you live in Georgia, I will tell you there is no teacher's union in Georgia. We have organizations, but we have no union.

Teachers in the county I work in have the choice to have their kids go to school in the feeder pattern in which they teach. So my kids can go to the high school at which I teach, and any of the elementary and middle schools that feed into it. It is a professional courtesy to allow teachers to have their kids with them.

[Linda]

I know of at least one school district in my area that provides for teachers the option to send their kids to the district where mom and/or dad is employed without having to pay the out-of-district tuition.

That's the closest thing here to what you're describing.

[Michelle in GA]

The teachers here, as far as I know, can pick any school they want, so long as it is in their county.Testing is invloved for magnet, so it probably does not apply there. For example, if you teach in an elementary school or middle school that does not feed into a particular highschool, you can still pick that highschool for you dc. I have NO problem with that. I just wish all parents had that choice. I know that many of my teacher friends feel the same way. I also know some teachers who are totally against school choice, all the while excersising it themselves.

[melhouse]

First of all, since I see you live in Georgia, I will tell you there is no teacher's union in Georgia. We have organizations, but we have no union.

Teachers in the county I work in have the choice to have their kids go to school in the feeder pattern in which they teach. So my kids can go to the high school at which I teach, and any of the elementary and middle schools that feed into it. It is a professional courtesy to allow teachers to have their kids with them.

I agree. I also live in GA, and taught in two counties before "retiring" to have children and then, consequently, homeschool. The teachers can have their children go to any school within the school system of the school in which they teach They are responsible for transportation. They can't, however, go to a school that is not in their system (Unless that is where they live).

It also is not a courtesy provided through the teachers' organizations, but through the school systems. It truly is a perk to teaching, but not a big enough of one to persuade me to go back to the classroom. LOL

[Tracey in TX]

Teachers do have an option to send their child to local school or where they teach. Do attend a school outside district is tricky and must be approved by everyone and their brother. Truthfully, it's not much different than any other child's request to switch schools.

[Holly IN]

At the school where my dh works. If you live in that district for that school and you do not send your kids there then they raise a stink about it. This happened to my dh's co-worker who sent his kids to a catholic school. They really gave him a hard time about it.

We do not live in that district so we have no problems. They do make a bit of stink on the fact that we homeschool our children though. (not as bad as my dh's co-worker had to deal with)

Holly

[Daisy]

No, we do not have school choice. If that had been the case, my children might would be going to the school where my husband teaches. Well, maybe I should clarify. The teacher would have school choice if they worked at a crummy school but school choice does not exist in the good schools that already have waiting lists such as my DH's school.

I kinda see it as God's hand at work since we probably would never have even known about homeschooling if it had not been for this dilemmia.

[Jackie in AR]

i.e., can they choose which school their dc can attend? I ask, because in our neighborhood, our local highschool has gone downhill. The teachers who live here however, can bypass the bad school and send their kids to the better school outside our district;a school that I would consider sending my son, but cannot becasue I do not have that choice. This really perturbs me! Is this true everyhwere--or just in my neck of the woods? The very idea that teachers unions are against school choice for my family and others, and yet perserve that choice for themseleves really tees me off!


Teachers in my town can choose whether to have their dc attend the school at which they teach; otherwise, the dc must attend the school that is in their district.

[Unicorn]

My dh teaches 8th grade (we're in TX). Teachers can request a specific school in district, however, if that school is overcrowded, the request may not be honored. If a teacher lives out of district and wants to have their child in his district, it is allowed, but again specific schools may or may not be available.

[Diana in OR]

I don't think the teachers have school choice here. However, (and I assume this is nationwide), if a school doesn't meet certain performance standards based on the No Child Left Behind Act, then those students have the option to choose from another 1 or 2 schools in the district.

If the "bad" school you're referring to falls into that category, then any student from there would be given the choice.

Don't get ME started on NCLB! That's for another post, another day, lol!

[kalanamak]

i.e., can they choose which school their dc can attend? I ask, because in our neighborhood, our local highschool has gone downhill. The teachers who live here however, can bypass the bad school and send their kids to the better school outside our district;a school that I would consider sending my son, but cannot becasue I do not have that choice. This really perturbs me! Is this true everyhwere--or just in my neck of the woods? The very idea that teachers unions are against school choice for my family and others, and yet perserve that choice for themseleves really tees me off!

Perhaps it is one way of getting teachers without raising pay. It might lure some teachers, or keep some on. Some committee said "this is our budget, what can we do to have the best teachers we can afford? What else can we do to sell them our district".

[Janet in WA]

In the various school districts we've experienced around the country (many), the primary option offered to teachers was for their own children to attend the school where they taught (or else the children were required to attend the school to which their neighborhood was assigned). My guess, though, is that if a teacher really wanted his child to attend a particular school that didn't fall into one of those categories, his request would probably be honored or at least seriously considered.

Every job has fringe benefits -- I've never felt that this was an unreasonable benefit for a teacher to have.

[Mamagistra]

And don't even get me started on the unions! DH is a HS teacher at one of the magnet schools in Chicago. And he refuses to join the union. They still take a chunk out of his paycheck though.



:eek::eek::eek:

[WTMindy]

anyone can request to go to whatever school they want, and can go as long as there is room.