The News-Sentinel had an editorial today on the proposed voucher program that is pending in the state legislature.

What was interesting to me was the comments. A reader "SeekTruth" challenges the local media outlets to a "compare-and-contrast" assignment to spend a week with the students at a low-performing school such as Lonsdale Elementary and then at a high-performing school such as A.L. Lotts and write a story about whether the problem at Lonsdale is the teachers or the administration or the equipment, or if (gasp) the problem isn't the school at all.

Further, SeekTruth challenges an investigative reporter to find a local real world example of how it will all work - whether the local private schools around town are ready to take on students from low-performing schools and to nail down the details of entrance requirements, fees, and academic/behavioral performance criteria.

Here is the (most excellent) post from SeekTruth:

SeekTruth

"The best way to help low-income students is to improve public schools, and many districts are making progress toward that end."
---------------

Nope. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. You help low-income students by fixing what IS broke. Brace yourself. There's nothing wrong with the schools. That's a persistent urban myth. I'm afraid the problem runs far deeper than we will admit. Our neighborhoods are neatly segregated along socioeconomic lines. Remember White Flight? Now we have Super-Zips. Will we ever come clean?

The volatile issue of vouchers is too important to dismiss with the usual clichés and political expediency. Your tepid support of vouchers is all the toehold necessary to sow the seeds of our own destruction. Our great public school institution is a scapegoat. Apparently you've capitulated to the bait-and-switch tactics of voucher supporters. I'm very disappointed in our governor. It's time for some investigative reporting to set the record straight.

Ever seen a Compare-and-Contrast worksheet? They're popular with 3rd graders. Let's compare two schools. I challenge you to place an investigative reporter in Lonsdale for a week. Observe the nutrition and after-school programs, scrutinize the faculty, inspect the facilities, make note of the student-to-teacher ratio and the availability of additional resources. Follow the kids home. See where they live. Meet their parents and listen to their stories (Tip: bring along a Spanish interpreter and a photographer). Then, spend a week at A.L. Lotts and repeat the assessment. Meet the kids and follow them home too. Accompany them to their music lessons and various activities. Listen to stories of their travels and aspirations. Examine their computers, books, and toys. Size up their mentors and role models.

Then, once and for all, write a story explaining how the so-called low-performing school (Lonsdale) is deficient relative to the high-performing school (A.L. Lotts). Are its teachers inferior? Is the administration lacking? Do they need more SMARTboards? See if you can get to the bottom of the problem. Who knows, it could be that systemic poverty, language barriers, and homelife are the culprit, not the school. Catch that? Knowing is half the battle.

Finally, use real-world examples to illustrate how vouchers will purchase a better education for the typical student at the so-called low-performing school. Visit prospective academies in West Knoxville and find out how it will all work. Broach the topic of entrance requirements, fees, and academic/behavioral performance criteria. If vouchers truly will help the poor and will not undermine the children left behind at the public school, then I would be the last to stand in the way.

Who knows, your story might make 60 Minutes.