John Clearwater, Princeton
Princeton Regional School (PRS) board met recently. A local newspaper on Dec 14 featured a lengthy article “reigniting the battle” over Princeton Charter School enrollment and funding. This included mention of President-elect Donald Trump’s nomination and appointment of Betsy DeVos as secretary of education. My guess is PRS superintendent and board are preparing to counter or prepare to withstand, not to accommodate, changes stemming from a forecasted “climate change” for public schools nationwide. Why?
Politically leveraged reform and seminal change will soon be focused on alternative educational “choices” other than our public school establishment’s education monopolies. There will be strong advocacy for as well as regulatory and legislative actions directed at achieving a more balanced allocation of the nation’s educational resources and, especially on federal support, for other choices. Why?
One only has to look at probable, macro-scale changes under leadership of a Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos with implementation strongly backed by Vice President Pence who is very experienced in this arena and of like mind. Mr. Pence, as governor of Indiana, was a major player in achieving education reform during his tenure. Another Indiana governor, Mitch Daniel, honored Princeton ’73 grad now president of Purdue, is also a leader in educational reform.
Based on a long, public record of significant involvement as change agents on educational issues, both Ms. DeVos and Mr. Pence will likely propose, among others:
Broad use of vouchers for students enrolled and attending a wide spectrum of private and religious schools.
Significantly increasing numbers of charter schools based on what works measured by targeted performance metrics to ensure success in schools in varied demographic communities.
Strong support for school choice in a much broader context facilitated by vouchers, more charter schools, and related support to alternatives to public schools.
The undersigned, as a member of the PRS Board of Education and a strong supporter of the Charter School, cast the tie-breaking vote to establish the Princeton Charter School. The PCS, since inception, has met or exceeded every expectation expressed in my call and justification for approval. The PPS superintendent and board’s efforts seeking to deny approval of the PCS request to expand enrollment should not and will not succeed. Frankly, in my view, the adverse consequences of approval to PRS are not only grossly exaggerated, but highly speculative and without factual foundation.
Perhaps overreaching on issues out of my depth, but more “layman” views and assessments will follow as the appointment and transition process (first 100 days) evolves. Common Core and other programmatic educational issues for academia are sure to be on the DeVos and Pence agenda.
John Clearwater
Princeton
