The real school choice debate isn't nearly as polarized as the one we keep reading about.
Rahm Emanuel talks some sense:
Instead of chasing another Washington debate about choice that goes nowhere, let’s work together to help Americans get ahead by investing in better schools regardless of who operates them.
Meanwhile...
A thoughtful Trump school choice agenda?
What might that look like? For starters, you do catch more flies with honey than vinegar, as they say. Instead of mandating choice, Trump could give states broader flexibility to use federal funds for choice programs. Marrying that approach with a page from the Obama playbook – extra funds for extra innovation – would allow Trump to expand choice while avoiding legitimate objections about federalism and local control.
Not dead yet: Nevada's state teachers union may be open to compromise on education savings accounts.
Special education controversies could give momentum to education savings accounts in Texas (as foretold here).
K12 Inc. staves off a shareholder fight seeking greater transparency over its political spending.
Gov. Larry Hogan pushes to expand Maryland's experimental voucher program — a small bipartisan venture in private school choice — and faces predictable pushback from teachers unions, who argue a $5 million boost could undercut efforts to secure another $2.9 billion in public school funding. (In other words, voucher increase Hogan seeks amounts to roughly one-sixth of one percent of the funding increase the union seeks.)
A smarter, more even-handed look at the problems in Detroit charter schools. The question is not whether the school system there is in bad shape. The real questions are whether charters and choice made the problems worse, and which policies would fix them. The answers to those questions, despite the metastasizing narrative around Betsy DeVos, are far from clear.
Inside DeVos' inner circle. Pro-school choice Democrat Cory Booker raises questions about her nomination.
How does increasing access to AP courses affect the quality of those courses?
A defense of charter school authorizing, contra advocates for a more free-market approach.
Maybe "free market" education policies haven't worked because the markets are seldom free enough, and the policies are seldom bold enough.
Nevada's achievement school district is off and running.
Inside a Catholic school reform initiative in Milwaukee.
Success Academy's latest response to its real state challenges, framed two ways.
Tweets of the Week
Our new guide to New Orleans' Catholic schools features 80+ school profiles, FAQs, scholarship info, and more: https://t.co/bvtBGeIDCL
— EdNavigator (@ednavigate) December 14, 2016
Kudos to @darrylrouson for raising important questions. #dropthesuit https://t.co/96lxtaJEXo
— Bridget Ziegler (@BridgetAZiegler) December 14, 2016
The Week in School Choice is our weekly compendium of news and notes from around the country. Sign up here to get it in your inbox, and send links, tips, pushback or feedback to tpillow[at]sufs[dot]org.
We hope you've had a great year. We'll be taking a two-week holiday break. See you all in 2017.
