Monthly Archives: March 2010

Transportation for choice: Not easy but worth it

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school-busThe Dispatch reported today on suggestions designed to help Columbus Public School leaders wrestle with how to control transportation costs.

“We don’t want to just talk about transportation alone,” said Superintendent Gene Harris, saying that the big goal is enticing parents to return their kids to their neighborhood schools.

School choice “was a value that a board of education several years ago had,” Harris said, adding that “now what our current board is going to have to decide is what their current values are.”

It’s certainly not a bad thing to promote neighborhood schools, but CPS should be careful not to entice parents back to neighborhood schools by closing the choice options.

Remember last month when The Dispatch reported that fully 45% of CPS’s students attend a school other than their assigned neighborhood school? That’s a lot. And it’s parents, not board members, making the decisions to match their kids to an environment where they think they can be successful.

As comments on the article suggest, a shift away from these options could alienate families and push even more parents to look outside the district options – whether by moving outside the district, attending a charter, or using an EdChoice voucher to attend private school.

Though transportation is a tough nut to crack, we hope the board will redouble their commitment to quality school choice and tackle the creative problem solving required to provide quality, efficient transportation.

- Chad L. Aldis

New Media as a Metaphor

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A popular Columbus food blog recently diverged from culinary guidance to thoughts on newspapers and bloggers – and the (sometimes sour) relationship between them.

As a journalism major from way back, I immediately connect this establishment/novice conversation with discussions about school choice. Could there be an overlap in the shifts from traditional news media and the shifts from traditional public schools?

“Establishment” Sense of Entitlement

As with mission-focused newspapers who embrace quality blogging, we sometimes hear from public school leaders who welcome school choice as an important way to help kids. Michelle Rhee in DC is an example, as is Joel Klein in New York City. The former principal of Clifton Elementary School in Cincinnati is another. He bravely embraced EdChoice in its first year by calling it an important option and asserting that his school could compete.

But, frustratingly, we also hear a lot of the same old tired lines about public district schools being the only way to ensure quality and accountability in education. How could that possibly be true, especially now with more and more evidence to the contrary? Well-designed (and that is not a given) school choice programs are opening doors to quality and accountability, too, and maybe more robustly than the establishment in some instances.

Decentralized sourcing

Bloggers are ubiquitous – some are innovative and helpful. Some publish tripe. But there is no question that blogs are helping to connect web users (busers?) to new information and perspectives. And blogs have pushed traditional media to respond to news consumers in new ways.

Diversity in quality is also a characteristic of successful non-traditional schools. A system that is open to innovation – with duplication for successful models and closure for failures (failure is inevitable!) – will see schools like this one in Cleveland open up to help kids.

Choice and accountability

Online, readers vote with their click. In education, parents vote with their enrollment. Both empower regular folks in powerful ways.

And while “we the people” don’t have a tremendous vested interest in making sure that the good bloggers get public support and the bad ones get closed, certainly kids deserve both the innovation of the new sector, the ability to choose their school, and careful public scrutiny.

- Sarah Pechan

Democratic Governor Advocates Tax Credit Scholarship Proposal

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Maryland governor, Martin O’Malley, is among the growing number of Democratic state leaders who actively support school choice. He recently wrote a letter to the Maryland state legislature appealing for them to create a new scholarship program. Through the proposed program, donations made by businesses to nonprofit scholarship organizations could be counted as income tax credits. Then the donations would be used for private school scholarships and to support innovate public school programs.

“Thank you for the opportunity to express my support for Senate Bill 385, which establishes the Building Opportunities for All Students and Teachers in Maryland Tax Credit. The BOAST tax credit will help preserve Maryland’s rich tradition of highly performing public and private schools.”

The Governor’s appeal seems to have made an impact in the bill’s progress already and advocates are hopeful that the bill will pass in time for next school year.

You can read the full text of the Governor’s letter here.

- Sarah Pechan

SCO Ambassadors Touted in National Publication

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The Foundation for Educational Choice recently highlighted the great work that Ohio families that use vouchers are doing to promote and protect their options.

The feature, “Parent ambassadors key to school choice in Ohio,” shines a spotlight on the creativity and commitment of Ohio families who are committed to their children’s education.

Even as School Choice Ohio empowers parents with information about their own education options, a concerted effort is being made to empower them to raise their voices in broader education conversations. When parents connect with other parent ambassadors and learn to share their stories, it creates a megaphone for the school choice message.

School Choice Ohio focuses on face to face interactions that have the most impact. Many parents were engaged as participants in political rallies and sent form letters to voice their support. While those are good beginning steps, parents can be engaged more authentically to make the most of their insight.

When equipped with tools, parents raise their voices in big ways. Families in key cities across the state have taken different creative approaches. Groups have marched in local parades, organized information meetings, distributed flyers at community events, spoken at conferences, and met with community leaders to build awareness of Ohio’s three voucher programs.

Ambassadors are also involved in policy conversations. In 2008, concerned about budget challenges to the EdChoice Scholarship, families started working to protect the scholarship. They met with legislators, sent letters describing the transformations they have seen in their children, and hosted legislators on tours of their schools.

In less than six months, more than 100 ambassadors connected with dozens of the state’s most important legislators to share their EdChoice stories. Parents were thrilled to see their scholarship programs survive one of the most difficult budget years in recent history.

The most important voice and involvement in a child’s education is a parent’s. As families are empowered to speak up, they are making their voices heard and making an impact for their own children and the children of Ohio.

Kudos to the ambassadors, who are speaking up and making a difference.

- Sarah Pechan