A state representative's idea of control sounds more like chaos to us.
House Floor Leader Tim Jones, R-Eureka, has advanced a proposal to empower parents to shut down or fundamentally restructure the public school their children attend.
Under his proposal, parents could decide if the school would be changed to a charter school or closed, in which case parents would receive vouchers for their children to attend other schools.
"We need to take control of our schools," Jones told a House education panel Tuesday.
How, exactly, would parents exert control?
More than 50 percent of them would have to agree there was a problem and that school administrators are not going to fix it.
Under what circumstances would parents do so?
"If the school does not have the right standards or is not teaching the right curriculum," Jones said some of the reasons might be, "or the administrators are bad or the school board is making bad decisions."
All district parents - even all of the parents in a single school - obviously are not of one mind.
Therefore:
• How are definitions of "good" and "bad" determined?
• How would the prevailing attitude among parents be determined? Would a school-wide or district-wide vote be conducted? Would a poll be taken?
• Who or what entity would be empowered to determine the ballot language or phrase the poll questions?
• What mechanism would be established for district parents to control the school? How would the governing authority differ from - and improve upon - the governing board now elected by district patrons?
Jones concedes his proposal is radical, but said: "I will argue that it is time for true, radical change to occur in some of our schools."
Radical change, however, must not consign our students to chaos.
Missouri's public education system is organized into school districts, each governed by seven-member boards elected by the people.
The system may not be perfect, but neither is it irreparably broken. And parents may voice their sentiments - regarding standards, curriculum, decisions, etc. - at public meetings of the board members they elect.
Jones has proposed radical change, but it does not portend change for the better.