美国国家公共电台 NPR The Mile High Promise, And Risk, Of School Choice

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

We don't yet know about specific plans from the new education secretary, Betsy DeVos. We do know DeVos has long championed a variety of school choice options, from vouchers¹ for private schools to charter schools, which are publicly funded but privately² managed. Denver, Colo., has had a citywide choice system in place for more than a decade. It's popular and generally gets high marks in terms of academic growth. But as NPR's Eric Westervelt reports from Denver, choice appears to be doing little to narrow achievement gaps by income and race.

ERIC WESTERVELT, BYLINE³: In a sprawling⁴ school complex in the city's Westwood neighborhood, you'll find a kind of only-in-Denver scenario⁵. Under one roof, four schools are in various stages of transition. A new elementary and middle school are here. Both charters, they share the building with a legacy⁶ middle school that's being phased out for low performance alongside what the city calls an innovation school, Kepner Beacon⁷ Middle, that's being phased in.

DEMETRIO: Hi, my name is Demetrio, and this is the science class.

WESTERVELT: Six months ago, this sixth-grader named Demetrio spoke⁸ almost no English when he arrived here from El Paso, Texas.

DEMETRIO: We're right now...

WESTERVELT: What are you working on today? What's the science...

DEMETRIO: We're learning about the solar system.

WESTERVELT: Is Pluto⁹ a planet or a star?

DEMETRIO: A star.

WESTERVELT: Demetrio, in theory, could choose, or choice into, any school in the district through a lottery¹⁰. But like half of all Denver students, his family chooses to stay in their neighborhood, or boundary, school. In this case, it's a new innovation school that offers its administrators¹¹ charter-like autonomy to get around certain district and state rules.

UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Unintelligible).

WESTERVELT: Kepner Beacon's not quite a charter but not a traditionally-run school either. It's a hybrid¹² and part of Denver's portfolio¹³ strategy to expand choice options and allow schools more freedom to experiment. The district then tries to replicate¹⁴ what's working well and, when needed, close what's not. Dan Walsh is Kepner Beacon's assistant principal.

DAN WALSH: To me, it's just a no-brainer. It's logic¹⁵. You have to create competition. And if you're good at something, you should, you know, be rewarded for that. And if you're not good at it, you shouldn't be able to stay in your job.

WESTERVELT: In other cities, expanding choice has sparked bitter fights, especially over charters, which are publicly funded but privately managed. Critics say charters undermine neighborhood public schools. But while Denver has certainly had its battles, today, the choice debate is far less heated here than elsewhere. Superintendent¹⁶ Tom Boasburg says that's partly because no matter what type, the focus is on quality and improvement.

TOM BOASBURG: What parents care about - do they have a great public school in their neighborhood that will serve their kid well? And if it's district-run school - hallelujah. If it's a charter school - hallelujah.

WESTERVELT: The Denver strategy, overall, appears to be working. Ten years ago, the city was near the bottom of the state's cities in academic growth. Recently, it has ranked at or near the top. The city has also significantly cut the number of dropouts and boosted four-year graduation rates. But the sink-or-swim mentality¹⁷ doesn't sit well with all teachers.

AARON LOWENKRON: Your education is a right. And I don't think that this sort of system of competition is necessarily appropriate.

WESTERVELT: Aaron Lowenkron teaches math at East, one of Denver's best high schools. It's a traditional district-run place. He says treating schools like free-market startups has done little to ease significant equity¹⁸ gaps.

LOWENKRON: What we need to look at is choice for who and who are the winners and losers. And I think that when we really dive into that, it becomes really clear that it's the usual winners and the usual losers in that game.

WESTERVELT: Lowenkron rightly points out that while choice in Denver has steadily¹⁹ improved achievement and graduation rates, it has also widened the achievement gap by income and race. Van Schoales, head of the advocacy group A+ Colorado, says not enough low-income families here are exercising their choice because they may not have the car, gas or time to ferry their child across town in ways wealthier parents do, so they get stuck in an average boundary school.

VAN SCHOALES: There's still a fair amount of inequity in terms of access to quality schools and programs, dependent on whether or not you're low income.

WESTERVELT: The city and district, Schoales says, can and should do more to figure out transportation solutions and set aside more slots for low-income students in better schools in higher-income areas. Otherwise, he says, Denver's popular choice experiment risks widening the chasm²⁰ between rich and poor in the fastest-growing school district in the nation.

Eric Westervelt, NPR News, Denver.

(SOUNDBITE OF MY DAD VS. YOURS' "NO FARM NO FOOD NO FUTURE")

1 vouchers   

n.凭证( voucher的名词复数 )；证人；证件；收据

参考例句：

• These vouchers are redeemable against any future purchase. 这些优惠券将来购物均可使用。
• This time we were given free vouchers to spend the night in a nearby hotel. 这一次我们得到了在附近一家旅馆入住的免费券。 来自英语晨读30分（高二）

2 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 sprawling   

adj.蔓生的，不规则地伸展的v.伸开四肢坐[躺]( sprawl的现在分词 )；蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展；四肢伸展坐着（或躺着）

参考例句：

• He was sprawling in an armchair in front of the TV. 他伸开手脚坐在电视机前的一张扶手椅上。
• a modern sprawling town 一座杂乱无序拓展的现代城镇

5 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 beacon   

n.烽火，（警告用的）闪火灯，灯塔

参考例句：

• The blink of beacon could be seen for miles.灯塔的光亮在数英里之外都能看见。
• The only light over the deep black sea was the blink shone from the beacon.黑黢黢的海面上唯一的光明就只有灯塔上闪现的亮光了。

8 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

9 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

10 lottery   

n.抽彩；碰运气的事，难于算计的事

参考例句：

• He won no less than ￡5000 in the lottery.他居然中了5000英镑的奖券。
• They thought themselves lucky in the lottery of life.他们认为自己是变幻莫测的人生中的幸运者。

11 administrators   

n.管理者( administrator的名词复数 )；有管理（或行政）才能的人；（由遗嘱检验法庭指定的）遗产管理人；奉派暂管主教教区的牧师

参考例句：

• He had administrators under him but took the crucial decisions himself. 他手下有管理人员，但重要的决策仍由他自己来做。 来自辞典例句
• Administrators have their own methods of social intercourse. 办行政的人有他们的社交方式。 来自汉英文学 - 围城

12 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

13 portfolio   

n.公事包；文件夹；大臣及部长职位

参考例句：

• He remembered her because she was carrying a large portfolio.他因为她带着一个大公文包而记住了她。
• He resigned his portfolio.他辞去了大臣职务。

14 replicate   

v.折叠，复制，模写；n.同样的样品；adj.转折的

参考例句：

• The DNA of chromatin must replicate before cell division.染色质DNA在细胞分裂之前必须复制。
• It is also easy to replicate,as the next subsection explains.就像下一个小节详细说明的那样，它还可以被轻易的复制。

15 logic   

n.逻辑(学)；逻辑性

参考例句：

• What sort of logic is that?这是什么逻辑？
• I don't follow the logic of your argument.我不明白你的论点逻辑性何在。

16 superintendent   

n.监督人，主管，总监；(英国)警务长

参考例句：

• He was soon promoted to the post of superintendent of Foreign Trade.他很快就被擢升为对外贸易总监。
• He decided to call the superintendent of the building.他决定给楼房管理员打电话。

17 mentality   

n.心理，思想，脑力

参考例句：

• He has many years'experience of the criminal mentality.他研究犯罪心理有多年经验。
• Running a business requires a very different mentality from being a salaried employee.经营企业所要求具备的心态和上班族的心态截然不同。

18 equity   

n.公正，公平，（无固定利息的）股票

参考例句：

• They shared the work of the house with equity.他们公平地分担家务。
• To capture his equity,Murphy must either sell or refinance.要获得资产净值，墨菲必须出售或者重新融资。

19 steadily   

adv.稳定地；不变地；持续地

参考例句：

• The scope of man's use of natural resources will steadily grow.人类利用自然资源的广度将日益扩大。
• Our educational reform was steadily led onto the correct path.我们的教学改革慢慢上轨道了。

20 chasm   

n.深坑，断层，裂口，大分岐，利害冲突

参考例句：

• There's a chasm between rich and poor in that society.那社会中存在着贫富差距。
• A huge chasm gaped before them.他们面前有个巨大的裂痕。