WASHINGTON, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- The UPI think tank wrap-up is a daily digest covering brief opinion pieces, reactions to recent news events and position statements released by various think tanks. This is the first of two wrap-ups for Aug. 15.
The Acton Institute
(The Acton Institute works to promote a free and virtuous society characterized by individual liberty and sustained by religious principles. Its goal is to help build prosperity and progress on a foundation of religious liberty, economic freedom, and personal moral responsibility.)
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich.-- Private schools work: Less can mean more
by Clint Green
Public school administrators across America are finding themselves in the difficult and unaccustomed position of having to explain to concerned parents why their school is listed as failing, according to the new federal standards implemented in the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001."
This act attempts to implement some flexibility in state standards in order make them less rigid in their requirements, so that failing schools are able to creatively arrive at solutions unhindered by unnecessary regulation. In some state courts, however, there are moves to block a key aspect of the act -- the portion that requires failed schools to provide tuition monies for students who wish to attend a better school.
At this juncture in the implementation of the act, there is a general sense that the Education Department has not given enough policy guidance in the enforcement of the act's requirements. Across the board there seems to be a move to shift the blame for failure, rather than addressing the general breakdown of the public schools the act was designed to address.
Meanwhile, private and parochial schools continue to do what they have always done: teach students successfully. Studies show that parochial schools spend less than half of what the public schools spend on educating students, and yet, despite the National Education Association's claims, the schools actually do more with less.
According to a study conducted in three New York boroughs by Paul Peterson and Herbert Walberg, per pupil costs in public schools in Manhattan, the Bronx, and Brooklyn are an average of $5,124. The parochial schools in those same boroughs spend approximately 53.2 percent less, $2,399 on average per student. And yet this same study found that, on average, private school students scored 7.3 percent better on standardized reading tests than did their public school counterparts.
Furthermore, a study conducted by the RAND Corp. of public, private, and parochial high schools in New York City found that the parochial high schools graduated 95 percent of their students, while the public schools graduated only about 50 percent.
Parochial school students scored a combined average score of 803 on the SAT; public school students scored a combined average of 642. Finally, 60 percent of the African American students in parochial schools scored above the national average for African American students on the SAT. Seventy percent of the African American students in public schools scored below that average. The evidence clearly suggests that there must be more to academic success than money.
What makes private and parochial schools outperform public schools if more money isn't the answer? There are a few constant factors that contribute to the success of private schools. One aspect is that private and parochial schools are, generally speaking, safer than public schools. Private and parochial schools are predominantly schools founded on a faith tradition. One important aspect of faith traditions is that they promote respect -- respect for teachers, students, the learning environment, and more broadly, respect for legitimate authority. The presence of a clear set of expectations for behavior cannot be discounted as a reason contributing to academic success.
The management of private schools is directly accountable to parents in a way that public schools are not. Private school teachers often know and form relationships with parents of the students they instruct. Parents can often be found in the classroom volunteering to read stories to preschoolers or on field trips as chaperones or drivers. They can be found judging the local Halloween costume contest and helping clean the classrooms prior to the beginning of the school year. As a result, there is a great sense of shared mission on the part of teachers and parents in the private school environment.
Private school administrators understand the power of parents. They know that the continued existence of their school depends, in part, on keeping the parents satisfied. This could lead to principals and teachers merely telling parents what they want to hear, but more often than not it leads to the demand for excellence.
Parents who willingly pay out tuitions of $1000 or $2000 for their children to attend a particular school expect to get their money's worth, and that means they expect their children to learn. School administrators know this and know that dissatisfied parents imperil the school's existence.
Given the more responsive nature of private schools, teachers and students have a clear educational mandate. Academic success is expected of all students. Teachers are expected to provide the tools students need to succeed: a well-taught academic curriculum, homework and assignments that will be graded each day, respect for the learning process, for the teacher, for fellow students, and for the student himself.
Teachers in private and parochial schools take this mandate very seriously because their livelihood depends on it. Often they find themselves tutoring particular students or spending their own money to purchase supplementary materials and they do this while earning substantially less than their public school counterparts. They often accept this willingly because they believe in the mission of the school and the dignity of the student.
Parents have long known that private schools offer a different approach to education. Competition, accountability, mission, and the overwhelming presence of religion in these schools help to demonstrate that schools can indeed succeed while spending substantially less than public schools.
Unfortunately, for many students in failed schools, the only answers the public school lobby offers for their failure are blame and a demand for increased funding as a panacea for all problems. For children trapped in failed schools it is tragic that more actually means less.
(Clint Green is the programs officer at the Acton Institute.)
The Institute for Public Accuracy
(The IPA is a nationwide consortium of policy researchers that seeks to broaden public discourse by gaining media access for experts whose perspectives are often overshadowed by major think tanks and other influential institutions.)
WASHINGTON -- Colombia, the Middle East
-- Adam Isacson, director of the Colombia program at the Center for International Policy.
"At a time when a new hard-line president is declaring a state of emergency in Colombia, the U.S. government is broadening its military mission from counter-narcotics to counter-terrorism. This could lead just about anyplace. Those two trends are worrying enough on their own, but for them to happen at the same time should make us sit up."
-- Cecilia Zarate-Laun, co-founder and director of the Colombia Support Network.
"Colombia's new government has issued a decree that installed a state of emergency. It is instituting detentions without warrants and creating a network of informants, which violates the constitution. Meanwhile, the interior minister is pressuring the constitutional courts ... Fighting against terrorism is not only a right; it is a duty of the government. However the government cannot be allowed to solve the Colombia conflict by restricting fundamental freedoms and democratic rights."
-- As'ad Abukhalil, professor of political science at California State University at Stanislaus and author of "Bin Laden, Islam & America's New 'War on Terrorism'", his recent criticism of the Jordanian monarchy on the Al-Jazeera television network prompted a number of actions by the Jordanian government -- including closing down the offices of Al-Jazeera in Jordan.
"The stiff Jordanian reaction to my criticism of the record of the royal family and its double dealings toward the Palestinians indicates a measure of the nervousness and insecurity on the part of the king, who wishes to balance his blind loyalty to the United States with the sentiments of his largely Palestinian populace. The role of the intelligence apparatus has been expanded under this king, and dissidents are quickly rounded up ... The United States is working toward affecting the succession struggle in Saudi Arabia:
The pro-U.S. faction under Prince Sultan, who is the defense minister and father of the Saudi Ambassador in D.C., wants Prince Sultan to be made the Crown Prince, while Crown Prince Abdullah wants the traditional standard of chronological seniority to be observed."
The Competitive Enterprise Institute
(CEI is a conservative, free-market think tank that supports principles of free enterprise and limited government, opposes government regulation, and actively engages in public policy debate.)
WASHINGTON -- C:\Spin -- Internet wine sales: Old monopolies fight against new bottles
Elliot Ness may have missed out on the Internet, but Prohibition is alive and well, as 28 states greatly restrict or forbid direct shipments of wine and other alcoholic beverages from out-of-state sellers to in-state customers.
Things may be changing, however, as three recent court decisions have supported interstate Internet wine sales. The decisions could affect e-commerce in other products as well.
On July 17, a U.S. District Court in Texas struck down that state's restrictions on direct shipments of alcoholic beverages as a violation of the constitutional rights of both the out-of-state wineries and their prospective Texas customers. This decision comes only months after federal district courts rejected similar laws in Virginia and North Carolina. Several other cases are pending, including a challenge to New York's direct shipping ban, so 2002 could be the year of decision in the battle to legalize Internet wine sales.
This legal debate has its roots in the 21st Amendment, which repealed the Noble Experiment in Prohibition while granting the states special power over commerce in alcoholic beverages. Today, each state has a strictly regulated system through which all alcohol sales must be channeled. The regulations supposedly exist to guard against alcohol abuse, but seem mostly designed to deliver monopoly profits to favored purveyors.
The Internet is challenging this status quo, as winery Web sites and online wine merchants generate a growing demand for mail order wine transactions. Direct shipping offers considerable advantages for both buyer and seller. Consumers can save a bundle by bypassing their state-mandated distribution monopoly and its exorbitant markups. Product choice is expanded, as small-volume vintages, mostly ignored by large distributors, are made available. Many struggling small wineries see Internet sales as their last best hope of survival.
But the big distributors aren't ready to give up their government-protected monopolies. Led by the Wine & Spirits Wholesalers of America, they use their lobbying clout to crack down on interstate competition.
Debate over the legality of these bans centers around clashing constitutional provisions. While the 21st Amendment grants states authority to regulate alcoholic beverages, the Commerce Clause prohibits states from enacting measures designed to favor in-state interests against out-of-state competitors. When laws against direct shipping drift away from legitimate state regulation of alcoholic beverages and towards protectionism, they are more likely to be found unconstitutional.
The end of Internet prohibition is not certain. Earlier challenges to direct shipping laws in Florida, Indiana, and Michigan failed. And, as the Texas judge noted, "this is a gray area of law," so the state will likely appeal, and the case could become the first wine sales case to be heard by the Supreme Court.
The outcome of this dispute has broader implications for e-commerce. The Federal Trade Commission has expressed general concerns that old economy middlemen are using state laws to protect themselves against Internet competition. In addition to wine, the FTC mentioned automobiles, real estate, and pharmaceuticals. A Progressive Policy Institute study estimates that such restrictions cost consumers $15 billion a year.
Thus, a Supreme Court decision on Internet wine sales could reaffirm the basic wisdom of the Commerce Clause and its dedication to national markets, as the rise of the Internet illustrates once again the importance of preventing local businesses from appropriating the powers of states for monopolistic ends.
(Ben Lieberman is a senior policy analyst at the Competitive Enterprise Institute.)
