School Choice Trifecta

The Post turns in not one, not two, but three noteworthy school choice stories today. The first suggests that DC's voucher program may be eliminated by an unfriendly Congress. While I don't think the program should be expanded or continued in the long run, the first obligation is to the kids here and I think Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton owes them more than just an "FYI, I'll be taking your voucher away." 

The second story is titled "Charter Schools to Close Over Academics." Ask yourself: How many times you have read this headline without the word "charter" in it? That tells you most of what you need to know. Also, it's not a coincidence that all of the charter revocations in DC have been applied to stand-alone "mom and pop" schools, not schools like KIPP that benefit from a fine-tuned model and the support of larger regional or national non-profit charter management organizations. In the not-too-distant future, both research findings and charter school growth patterns will likely show that this is the future of public school choice. The article also includes commentary from Ross Wiener at the Ed Trust, which is unusual in that they normally don't weigh in on choice issues. I've always been puzzled by this; objectively speaking charter schools have done exponentially more to improve education for low-income and minority students in DC than reforms like NCLB, so you'd think that an organization premised on helping those children would be more engaged... 

The third story (like the second from Jay Mathews) focuses on New Orleans where over half of public school enrollment is in charters. One critic faults charters there for creating an environment of "entrepreneurial opportunism" whereby providers rushed in in the weeks and months after the flood, recruiting good teachers, founding new schools in empty public school buildings, etc., etc. Right. Because clearly the big problem in post-Katrina New Orleans has been an overabundance of resources and attention focused on providing vital public services to the city's poor children.