I’ve been talking for a while about the potential shift that public schools are about to experience. It was based on a gut feeling and a lot of reading.
I’ve been misinterpreted as saying that I don’t believe in public schools, but I do. I just see what’s coming. I know that if teachers and schools don’t voice how they are going to make schooling more relevant to the 21st Century, then politicians and lobbyist will decided for us.
What I didn’t know if that we are already in the midst of that shift. Listening to the radio yesterday, I heard an advertisement for Provost Academy, a tuition-free online public high school. My last ThinkingEDU podcast talked about how online public high school were becoming more prevalent, but this was in my state where my former students are and where my friends teach.
Students are given exit exams and if all state requirements are met, then they receive a high school diploma. Let’s pause for a second and think about what 16 and 17 years olds would choose. Would they choose to spend all day in switching classes that are filled with state-curriculum preparation and dress code requirements or to stay at home and work at their own pace?
They answer has major ramifications for the future of public schools and the teaching profession in South Carolina.
It’s time for a remix. It’s time for rethinking. It’s time for reformulating.
It’s time.