Drivers Ed Spotlight - How to Choose the Best Driving School For Your Teen

It is a Saturday afternoon, a perfect afternoon to run your errands and do all that time-consuming shopping you have been putting off for the past week. You need 1) to buy groceries, 2) get an outfit for cousin Betty's wedding next week, 3) to help high school grad-to-be Johnny select a college, and 4) sign up 15 year old Tina for drivers education. It sure is going to be a busy Saturday, better get to work!
So, after sitting down for 15 minutes and making a grocery list, you head to the local market and spend another hour and a half picking out the perfect cantaloupe, sirloin, and finding the best deal on bread. Now it's off to the mall where you are determined to find that perfect ensemble of clothing to wear to the big wedding. Two hours and four department stores later, it's in the bag and you're finally on your way. You get home and look at your to-do list: find college for Johnny. "Well," you think to yourself, "that'll take a few days to figure out, I'll just tackle that when I have a few days off from work." Finally, you come to the end of your checklist and let out a sigh of relief, all you have to do is sign up little Tina for driving school. You open up the yellow pages, dial seven digits, and five minutes later Tina's enrolled at Uncle Bill's Driving School and you're half way to your bed for a nap.
So let's recap, shall we? You spent an hour and a half buying food for the next week, 2 hours purchasing clothes you'll wear for a day, you'll need several days to select that college Johnny will attend for four years, and it took you five minutes to select your daughter's driver training that she will not only use for the rest of her life, but that will hopefully save her from one of life's most lethal tasks: driving.
Did you know that the number one cause of death for teens ages 15-19, according to the National Center of Health Statistics, is automobile accidents (they account for nearly 40% of all teen deaths)? It's no secret that teen drivers have a higher rate of serious and deadly accidents than other drivers. Many of these accidents are caused by common mistakes, or an incomplete knowledge of traffic laws. With these poignant statistics, it's a wonder parents don't take choosing a driving school more seriously. The knowledge gained from a good, qualified driving school decreases the chances of being involved in a costly, injurious or possibly deadly collision. When choosing the right driving school for you or your loved ones, there are some obvious and not-so-obvious points to consider.
Price should not be a factor. Driver training is one of the most important investments you'll ever make for your teen. When looking for a driving school, there is usually an inverse relationship between price and quality. Though the most expensive school isn't automatically the best, there is a reason why certain schools charge less than others. Some driving schools cut corners by investing in cheaper, less safe vehicles. Others hire unqualified instructors that they find on the street and can pay minimal wages. Not to mention, most inexpensive schools teach "off the top of their head," and have not taken the time or money required preparing a structured, comprehensive curriculum. If you find a school you like, but the price is a little steeper than you expected, find out if they have a payment plan. Many customer friendly driving schools not only help you by breaking up costs into affordable payments, they also offer promotional discounts to help lower the price.
Verify the driving school is licensed in your state. If your child needed surgery, you surely wouldn't take them to an unlicensed surgeon. Don't make the same mistake when choosing a driving school. Licensed schools truly have to earn their credentials by complying with a number of state laws and regulations. You can check on the status of any licensed driving school and verify what type of courses they are approved for. For example, in California, the DMV provides a free driver school lookup service on their website. If a school is not on their list, keep looking!
Review the driving school's website. You may not always be able to judge a book by its cover, but you can get a pretty good idea of what's inside. The same is true of driving schools and their websites, and you should take the time to see what their site has to offer. Is the site professional? Is it easy to use? How about the content - is it pertinent, helpful, and organized well? Does the site have just minimal information, or does it go above and beyond what you'd expect? Is contact information clearly stated and easy to find? If you answer no to any of these questions, you might want to say no to that school.
Customer service should be a priority. A good test for any service-based company is to see how helpful and professional their customer service is. After all, if they have poor customer service before you are their customer, who knows how they will treat you once they've already got your money. Put a list of puestions together and give the driving school a call. Most reputable companies will have well trained phone staff that should be able to answer any question you have regarding getting your permit or license. And they should answer those questions with a positive attitude. If a school representative answers the call on a cell phone, they probably don't have an office or they are in the middle of a driving lesson. This should raise a red flag and you should run, not walk, in the other direction.

What does the school offer in the way of training vehicles? One of the most overlooked aspects of driver training is the vehicle used to train your teen. Shouldn't the primary tool used to train be of primary concern? Many of the best schools train in up-to-date vehicles equipped with extra safety equipment such as side & head curtain airbags and vehicle stability control systems. Another item to consider is the type of vehicle you will train in. If your teen will be driving an SUV as their primary vehicle, it makes sense to have them trained in an SUV. There are schools out there that offer lessons in both SUV's and compact cars, you just have to look around.

Make sure the driving school's instructors are capable. A restaurant's only as good as their chefs and a driving school is only as good as their instructors. A legitimate driving school hires professional, highly trained instructors to teach their students. Some of the leading-edge schools even hire instructors who have strong backgrounds working with teens. Studies show that teens learn more effectively when they are mentored, not dictated to. Furthermore, the best driving schools will thoroughly screen their instructors with background and drug tests. After all, you should be able to trust leaving your child with an instructor without having any reservations. Finally, top driving schools also have a mix of both male and female instructors, allowing you to choose the best fit for you.

Boarding School Myths

Even if you're just starting your boarding school research, there's a good chance you already have an impression of what boarding school is like. This impression might come from books you've read, such as "Catcher in the Rye" or "A Separate Peace." It also might come from movies you've watched like "Dead Poet's Society," or "School Ties."
These stories, while entertaining, take place in boarding school settings that are different from what you'd find today. An excerpt from an article about college-preparatory boarding schools in The New York Times summarizes these differences well:
"To generations of students whose syllabuses include J.D. Salinger's "Catcher in the Rye," boarding school represents the winter of their adolescent discontent; a cold, distant place where parents threaten to send their children if they don't measure up.Parents dropped their children off in September, picked them up again in June and let the schoolmasters worry about what went on in between.
If Holden Caulfield were to return to school for Alumni Day 2001, he would find that the world of proctors and prefects, dorm teas and Mr. Chips has undergone a millennial thaw. Most of the approximately 36,000 students at boarding schools packed their bags willingly and are in daily e-mail contact with mom and dad. The ivy is no longer one shade of green. Students are as likely to room with a real prince of Thailand as with the fresh prince of Bel Air, as the schools reach farther into the public high schools for the majority of their students, making admissions more competitive than ever. The monastic life of formal dinners, daily chapel and cold showers has given way to international theme meals, contemporary ecumenism and interdorm dances." - Less Austerity, More Diversity at Prep School Today - By VICTORIA GOLDMAN and CATHERINE HAUSMAN, November 12, 2000, New York Times
Just as universities and colleges in the United States have evolved in the past several decades, so have boarding schools. And while the perception of boarding school is changing, there are still some lingering myths that can make you mistakenly think that you wouldn't fit in at boarding school:
Myth 1: You must be very wealthy to go to boarding school.

Today, approximately a third of all boarding school students receive financial aid. Financial aid grants can represent a significant portion of tuition depending on the school and your family's situation. Boarding school students now increasingly come from public schools and a wider range of family income-levels. In general, boarding schools do their best to make their programs accessible to your family through financial aid grants, loan programs, and merit awards/scholarships. In the past ten years, the emergence of K-12 private school loans has also made boarding school education more accessible.
Families that send their kids to boarding school today represent a much wider demographic - geographically, socio-economically and ethnically (see "Myth 2" below). What hasn't changed is the rigorous academic approach and emphasis on students' personal growth.
Myth 2: Diversity is rare at boarding school.

More than a quarter of all boarding students are either students of color or international students. Boarding schools are generally more diverse than public schools - they actively seek diversity and draw from many geographic areas whereas local schooling options are dependent on neighborhood living patterns where populations tend to concentrate along ethnic or socio-economic lines. Also, boarding schools create more meaningful opportunities for different students to interact with one another - whether in the dorms, classrooms or playing fields, you'll always be surrounded by a diverse population that you'll inevitably get to know throughout the year.
Myth 3: Kids don't have fun at boarding school.
Curfews and rules will be part of life at any boarding school - no big news here. But depending on your impression of boarding school, you might be surprised to learn that boarding school can also be a lot of fun. If you talk to boarding school students or alumni today, most will tell you the same thing - it's an environment that's conducive to making incredible friends and having fun in the process.

Keep in mind that while strong academics are a key focus for boarding schools, they also strive to foster independence in students. Boarding schools give you choices in how you spend your time and what activities to pursue so that you can determine your experience at school and grow as a person, not just academically. This process - of growth in independence, meeting new people and pursuing your interests - is often fun and very rewarding.
Myth 4: Boarding school is for kids who are having trouble at home or school.
There are two types of boarding schools - college-preparatory boarding schools and therapeutic boarding schools. The two are sometimes confused and can cause misperceptions that boarding schools are only for kids who are having trouble at home or school.

College-preparatory boarding schools are geared for motivated students who are looking to explore new opportunities. College-preparatory boarding schools are often ideal choices for students who are already doing generally well at school and at home, but would simply like to find new challenges. These types of boarding schools are not appropriate choices for students with drug, alcohol, or behavioral problems. The key objective of these boarding schools is to prepare students for college through rigorous academics. All the schools profiled in Boarding School Review are exclusively college-preparatory boarding schools.

The Charter School Wars --- Why Public Schools Hate Charter Schools

Many public school authorities hate charter schools. It's not hard to see why.
Charter schools embarrass local public schools because they often do a better job educating children, for less money. For example, in the 1999-2000 school year, Ohio charter schools got $2300 less per pupil in tax funds than local public schools. Charter schools therefore spotlight regular public schools' failure to educate students with more tax money at their disposal.
Charter schools also take money away from public schools. Every child that transfers to a charter school makes the child's former public school lose an average of $7500 a year in tax money. This tax money is the life-blood of public schools. It is the source of their power, of their very existence.

Finally, public-school authorities like their monopoly power over our children's education. Charter schools are free from much of the regulations and controls that regular public schools have to put up with. Charter schools therefore threaten the public school monopoly because they introduce a little competition into the system.
So what do angry or frightened local school districts do in response? School authorities often harass charter schools by reducing their funding, denying them access to school equipment or facilities, putting new restrictions on existing charter schools, limiting the number of new schools, or weakening charter-school laws.
They harass charter schools in other ways. For example, they create convoluted application procedures or don't give new-school applicants enough time to process their applications. They also use city agencies, zoning boards, or fire departments to harass the schools with regulations. For example, the Washington DC school district harassed a local charter school with an asbestos removal issue that forced the school to spend over $10 million in renovation costs. Local school districts have an arsenal of regulatory guns with which to harass charter schools, or reduce their numbers.
Teacher unions initially opposed charter schools. However, when charter schools became popular, the unions changed tactics. They now grudgingly give approval to charter schools, on certain conditions. They often push for district control over the schools, collective bargaining for charter-school teachers, or other restrictions.

Some teacher unions have renewed their open opposition to these schools with their usual lawsuits. The Ohio Federation of Teachers filed a lawsuit that seeks to declare Ohio's charter school laws unconstitutional. Ohio's charter schools have been dragged into this lawsuit, thereby forcing them to waste valuable time, money, and resources on legal battles. Teacher unions use such lawsuits to try to stop or slow down the charter school movement. Also, Washington State, and some other states, still have no charter school laws partly because of strong opposition by teacher unions and other interest groups who oppose charter schools.
As a result of this harassment by state education bureaucrats, local school districts, and teacher unions, there are not nearly enough charter schools to fill the demand. There is a constant waiting list for these schools, especially in low-income minority neighborhoods. In the 2001-02 school year, the average charter school enrolled about 242 students. About 69 percent of these schools had waiting lists averaging 166 students per school, or over half the school enrollment.
The over 750,000 students currently enrolled in charter schools may seem like a lot, but that number represents little more than 1.7 percent of the approximately forty-five million children who attend public school each year. Yet charter schools have now been around for over ten years.
As with vouchers, how long will it take, if ever, for charter schools to come to your neighborhood? Fifty years? Parents should consider if they want to wait around this long while their children suffer through twelve years of public school.

Joel Turtel is the author of "Public Schools, Public Menace: How Public Schools Lie To Parents and Betray Our Children."
Website: http://www.mykidsdeservebetter.com,
Email: lbooksusa@aol.com,
Phone: 718-447-7348.
Article Copyrighted © 2005 by Joel Turtel.
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