Thomas J. Gentzel
The Palm Beach Post recently published an op-ed by Thomas Gentzel, the executive director for the National School Boards Association, arguing that school choice ultimately denies educational opportunity.
Genztel wants a good education for every child regardless of their ZIP code. We can applaud that, but he seems to think that can only be achieved in a system totally controlled by members of the National School Boards Association.
“Vouchers, tuition tax credits and charter schools not governed by local school boards create a secondary, profit-driven system of education that strains limited resources and risks re-segregating schools, economically and socially, by admitting only certain, top-performing students,” he argues.
Set aside, for a moment, the fact that neighborhood-based school assignments may be contributing to racial and economic segregation (like the racial segregation within this Louisiana school district or between districts like in North Carolina).
It is interesting that Genztel seems to have no problem with magnet schools and charters that are “approved by local school boards.” District-run magnet programs are often allowed “to admit certain top-performing students,” something he claims to oppose. There is a difference, though. Unlike the options he criticizes, those schools are under the control of people who pay dues to his organization.
Grade: Needs Improvement
Judge Michael Burton
Speaking of public school open enrollment, St. Louis County Circuit Judge Michael Burton just issued a permanent injunction ordering the Normandy School District to pay for the public school transfers of students to accredited school districts. The judge also ordered school districts could no longer obstruct students from transferring into their schools.
Normandy, a mostly low-income minority school district, began hemorrhaging students last year when the Missouri Supreme Court upheld the state’s public school choice law. The law allows students in “unaccredited” (which in this context means low-performing) school districts to transfer to public schools in “accredited” (higher performing) districts.
Many receiving districts, like the whiter, and wealthier, Francis-Howell school district, attempted to block low-income minority students in Normandy from transferring. For example, the Francis-Howell School District refused transfers unless the student got a lawyer and a court order. Fortunately, Rex Sinquefield and the Children’s Education Alliance stepped in to pick up the legal tab for those students.
Judge Burton’s order now prevents school districts from turning away these students.
Grade: Satisfactory
School Choice Legislation
School choice programs are off to a good start in their respective state legislatures. This week a voucher proposal in Tennessee passed through its first hurdle, while Education Savings Account plans passed in the Virginia House of Delegates and Mississippi Senate. Oklahoma also has a pending ESA plan that will hit legislative desks in the coming days.
Time will tell if these plans pass into law, but school choice is off to a good start for 2015.
Grade: Satisfactory
