4 ms·

America is at the very bottom of the developed world for education. Broadly speaking, providing school choice seems like a good way to fix it. Properly designed

America is at the very bottom of the developed world for education. Broadly speaking, providing school choice seems like a good way to fix it. Properly designed, charter schools can close achievement gaps (https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/opinion/sunday/schools-that-work.html https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/06/opinion/sunday/schools-th...), allow academic excellence, and be more sensitive to cultural differences. Specifically speaking, a good choice system ought to fund students and not systems, but ought to also provide checks-and-balances on those systems. Charters which work are found in states like Massachusetts, which have basic oversight of those charters. Arizona seems to lack that. We seem to have two types of systems: Red states: School choice with no oversight Blue states: Limited school choice with basic oversight I'd like school choice with oversight. Basic oversight means: - Non-profit, with proper board governance - Comply with all relevant transparency laws (public records, FERPA, PPRA, etc.) - Fair lottery; schools cannot pick-and-choose students who go there - Some amount of standard data reporting - Charters can't charge beyond the voucher amount With that, I'd like to have an uncapped number of private charter schools.

willcipriano 4y ago
If the same people would do the oversight are the people currently in charge of the education system, I wouldn't expect different results. Parents are fleeing this oversight, it's really only the people who can't afford to leave that put up with it.
- frognumber 4y ago
  Re-read the oversight. It's based on transparency and governance. There aren't people doing the oversight, beyond handling complaints and shutting down non-compliant schools. The oversight is: - Non-profit, with proper board governance - Comply with all relevant transparency laws (public records, FERPA, PPRA, etc.) - Fair lottery; schools cannot pick-and-choose students who go there - Some amount of standard data reporting - Charters can't charge beyond the voucher amount There is no proposed oversight of what's taught or how it's taught. That's basically how charters work in Massachusetts, where they blow away one of the best public education systems in th world.
  - willcipriano 4y ago
    Yeah, I'd pass. If parents want to spend more on their kids education they should be able to do so, and if they do they don't need to open their records to you.

willcipriano 4y ago

If the same people would do the oversight are the people currently in charge of the education system, I wouldn't expect different results. Parents are fleeing this oversight, it's really only the people who can't afford to leave that put up with it.

frognumber 4y ago
Re-read the oversight. It's based on transparency and governance. There aren't people doing the oversight, beyond handling complaints and shutting down non-compliant schools. The oversight is: - Non-profit, with proper board governance - Comply with all relevant transparency laws (public records, FERPA, PPRA, etc.) - Fair lottery; schools cannot pick-and-choose students who go there - Some amount of standard data reporting - Charters can't charge beyond the voucher amount There is no proposed oversight of what's taught or how it's taught. That's basically how charters work in Massachusetts, where they blow away one of the best public education systems in th world.
- willcipriano 4y ago
  Yeah, I'd pass. If parents want to spend more on their kids education they should be able to do so, and if they do they don't need to open their records to you.