“Foxcroft Academy brought the math scores way up because they bring kids from Asia.
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Mr Lepage won the nomination handily and to me that seems like a good thing. During the campaign he made a statement relative to Foxcroft Academy which I feel needs comment and a thread of its own for the issue it brings up.
Mr Lepage: .....“[Foxcroft Academy] brought the math scores way up because they bring kids from Asia.".....
My older son is a junior at Foxcroft Academy and we have some knowledge of this matter. Yes there are a number of Asian students at Foxcroft Academy. I believe most are Korean but that is just from different things I hear. I could guess at the numbers but don't really know the figure so will suggest it is around 50 students more or less, and that is just a guess.
I am more familiar with George Stevens academy in Blue Hill as I spent most of my life in that area. Like Stevens, Foxcroft Academy is a private school. Private schools in Maine, for a number of years have had to face tight money situations. Unlike a public school which can salt local budget meetings with school staff members to vote whatever the local associations believe to be a "fair" budget, private schools in Maine, who take public money from area towns, are limited to charging for tuition what the state allows them to charge. Some of these private academies are doing things to attract students from outside their area. Foxcroft is one of these, and there are others.
To Foxcroft Academy attracting foreign students is good business. The more students they have the more money they can bring in to make the school better with. This is the essence of private enterprise IMHO. Foxcroft has an extensive domitory complex upon the hill behind the school and certainly, by just observation, has a substantial number of boarding students. Just so you know, I do have a few gripes about some of this, but let me continue.
Foxcroft, like any astute business, realized that they had to have something to offer in order to have satisfied customers. What they have to offer is a very high level academic program geared to the students who want to go in this direction. They udoubtedly score very high in their testing and they have a very high number of grads who go on to colleges arouond the world. If you want to sell your business you have to have something to sell and they do, its called "academic excellence".
I have thought for many years that the trouble with the public schools is they have no competetion. Therefore there is no incentive to be the best you can as you have a relatively captive audience. Personally I believe that you ought to be able to take the money your town puts up for your schooling and spend it at the school of your choice. Teachers associations very much do NOT like that idea of course. But it is interesting to watch, as an observer, just how well this system works. Acheivement begets more acheivement and that is what it should be. Further testimony to the soundness of this idea is the fact that many families from all over this area try to gain residency in one of the four towns as they want their child to go to Foxcroft. You would not believe the trouble some families go to to make this happen. Proof is in the pudding. People are clamoring to get in and that's a good thing!
Now for the gripes. Foxcroft, Like Stevens and Lee Academy, takes local school students also and serves as the receiving public high school for local towns. Foxcroft takes public money from Dover, Charleston, Monson and Sebec and serves as the high school for their students also. It is my belief that so much emphasis is placed on high academic achievement that some of these students who are not really suited for college get left behind. Foxcroft sends those students, so inclined, to Tri County Techinical Center in Dexter for training in various job areas from woodworking, truck driving, public safety, metals manufacturing and many fields of health care. My son goes to TCTC and I know many of the staff there, have talked with several of them many times, and they do a credible job with their students in preparing them for life. I am very pleased by the TCTC atmosphere, staff and mission and how well they do their job.
Sadly, Foxcroft has become such an academic enterprise, that students like the one's who go to TCTC get left out of the loop. Some have commented on this atmosphere as being kind of "snobby". I have seen this attitude as my son attends TCTC and is going to be a machinist someday as it is the love of his life. I don't need to go into details but several of the Foxcroft students who go to TCTC have done extremely well and have received NO recognition from Foxcroft for it at all. And that is way too bad IMHO.
Foxcroft made the claim earlier this Spring that most of the graduating "foreign" students go on to Ivy League schools. A foxcroft senior wrote a letter to the BDN a few weeks back in which he exposed this claim as a lie. He also claimed that it was a school rule that foreign students use english in school. And he says this does NOT happen very much, that the foreign students choose to use their native language most of the time. My son confirms that to me as he attends classes where some of the foreign students cannot carry on a conversation in English.
Overall, I think my gripes may be well founded in this particular instance, but the notion of schools competing for students and actively seeking students who can do good work, is a sound one. Much could be learned from this if one wanted to look. Mr Lepage, being a businessman ought to appreciate the idea of a school operating, at least in part, as a business and the competition of the market place making everyone better for it.
Foxcroft has a new Head-of-School for next year and it is my hope that some of the growing problems can be straightened out and things can run more smoothly.
I believe that every student in Maine, and his parents, should have the right to take the tax money their town has available and send their student to the school of their choice. Nothing would make all Maine schools any better any faster than competetion for students. Who should be the best judge of what is the best school for an individual, a bunch of politicians kow-towing to the local Assn or the student and his parents?
Foxcroft is proof, if any is need, that parents and students know best.
WC
It's a quote from Paul LePage. What could be more appropriate, as his quote is, in fact, the topic?
An interesting take and thank your son for his background on the issue.
I think the relevant point is that there are quite a few people willing to pay out of their pockets for their child to attend a very good academic program. Foxcroft is making a business out of this and is selling a product that is second to none in this state. And there are a number of students receiving a Foxcroft education at public expense. And others trying to get in because of it. Why not open the doors to anyone who wants to go there?
I happen to think it would make good sense to let parents choose what school to send their children to. The competetion would just make every school better. Foxcroft is proof that it works. And there are other places around proving the same thing.
Unfortunately the Maine Education Association, which effictively controls every public school in Maine would die before they would see this happen.
Maybe the parents should be put in charge instead.
What a novel idea!
WC
Overall, I think my gripes may be well founded in this particular instance, but the notion of schools competing for students and actively seeking students who can do good work, is a sound one. Much could be learned from this if one wanted to look. Mr Lepage, being a businessman ought to appreciate the idea of a school operating, at least in part, as a business and the competition of the market place making everyone better for it.
I can only speak to the one time I heard Paul LePage mention Foxcroft Academy and your statement above is the context I took from it. He was at an event in Lincoln and praised Foxcroft Academy for being competitive and a school that is doing it right.
I am glad to hear that and, him being a businessman I would expect he could readily see the change that could be brought to schools by taking a business-like approach as opposed to the emotional doctorine we have been following for years.
WC
WC - good points and I agree that competition is the key to success in education. Public education has turned into a "black hole" for the unions and our children are the ones suffering. I believe parents should have the choice of where to send their children to school.
This topic is under discussion already...at http://www.asmainegoes.com/content/lepage-asian-students-er-what...right...?
Universities in the UK, even the public ones, routinely seek foreign students to pay the "international" rate and give them much needed cash.
I believe parents should have the choice of where to send their children to school.
Parents do have this choice, and also the choice to refrain from sending them anywhere at all. Private, parochial, homeschool are all options that are selected by increasing numbers of families (in 2007, over 1.5 million children were home schooled in the US, and over 5 million were sent to private schools: National Center for Education Statistics).
While a laudable long-term goal, waiting for school choice as mandate from the government, however, is not a viable option for families with children now. I think the best way to get the message to our elected leaders and to education administrators is to stop using public schools. It isn't easy, it takes a significant commitment of time and money, but it is possible, and there are many opportunities for scholarship, financial aid and loan assistance.
Needless to say, it is a NGO that is and has been the largest provider of excellent and affordable non-public education: The Roman Catholic Church. Why wait for a voucher telling you where you may or may not "send" your child?
My complaint about this trend is a bit different: how many dominant high school sports teams in recent years have brought in kids from other states or countries who are gifted athletes? I think of Lee Academy, Washington Academy, GSA, etc. (Even if they aren't primarily here due their athletic abilities, I I would bet my bottom dollar that some of them are "soft recruited" for their athletic abilities.)
"Regular" Maine kids (whose parents, grandparents, and great-grandparents might have been paying taxes for public education for 100 years) shouldn't lose out on their chance for championships because of this practice. I don't like it at all.
Quote:
..."Why wait for a voucher telling you where you may or may not "send" your child?"....
I realize there are lots of private schools, the Catholic ones in particular, having been some of the best for a long time.
What I am saying here is that I pay taxes that support public education. I think I ought to be able to choose where to send my children with that money. Why should I be taxed for education and then have to pay extra to send my child to a school of my choice?
We as a people, with this "closed shop" have sentenced our inner city children in particular to some of the poorest education available on the planet.
I think there is a better way and it is called "letting parents choose".
WC
Jim Cyr wrote: "how many dominant high school sports teams in recent years have brought in kids from other states or countries who are gifted athletes?"
Indiana Faithful!
Al the more reason to oppose funding for high school sports teams. Let the private schools play with themselves.
Steven Scharf
SCSMedia@aol.com
Yep, good place to help balance school budgets. The education part should take priority over frivolous things like sports. If someone wants their child to play sports let them pay for it. Sports teams are not something the long suffering tax payer should have to pay for.
Sports are part of the academic experience, for most people. The two go hand in hand to promote a disciplined student/athlete. Most parents already do pay extra for their children to participate in sports and music, and a pay-to-play fee is entirely reasonable for public education.
The foreign exchange program at private schools is just one more aspect of the competitive and rigorous academic experience a student gets at a good school. Chances are your sons and daughters will compete with students from all over the world at some point in their academic careers – it is terrific exposure and a chance to learn from the experience.
The Maine Education Association, the National Education Association and the American Federation of Teachers are all opposed to parents being able to choose their child's school.
It has gotten so bad that anything these outfits are against, I probably will be "for" just because of their opposition.
They blather about it is "for the children" but thats a lie. It is all about being "for themselves". Just like the Teamsters.
WC
Well, yes, but if you are looking to the Maine Education Association, the National Education Association or the American Federation of Teachers to do what’s in the best interest of your child you’re abdicating parental responsibility. That’s the reality.
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Under the circumstances, I wish you had chosen a different title.