The Old-School Empire Strikes Back

School choice has been winning some battles in
recent years. But just after the close of a week celebrating
gains in expanding education options for families, old-school
(in the literal sense) defenders of one-size-fits-all learning push
back in two of the country’s more … umm … authoritarian
jurisdictions. Newly minted New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio
wants to gut funding for privately managed charter schools that
offer myriad  approaches and philosophies, while Illinois
lawmakers look to weaken a state commission that has the power to
authorize charters over the objection of entrenched local school
districts.

According to the editorial board at the New York
Post:

On Friday, Mayor Bill and Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña
announced that they plan to redirect $210 million away from charter
public schools to traditional public schools. The funds will come
from the 2015-19 capital plan, which hasn’t been released.
Basically, what this means is that money that would’ve gone for the
expansion of successful charter schools will go to build more
pre-kindergarten seats at the traditional public schools.

This is astonishing on several scores. To begin with, the best
research we have suggests the returns on most pre-K programs
diminish after a few years, while the charter gains are impressive.
If you were going to help children get a decent education, where
would you put your dollars?

Even before his election, Bill de Blasio had a reputation as a
defender of state-controlled everything (including
horses). As the Post notes,
research on charter schools has generally shown encouraging
educational outcomes for children when compared to traditional
public schools. That’s especially impressive when you consider that
charters tend to attract families that have been sorely
disappointed by the often cookie-cutter traditional schools.

But even if the research didn;t how such impressive outcomes,
there’s value in choice in and of itself. It allows families to
pick and choose among philosophies and environments that best suit
their own children and don’t treat them as identical products with
uniform needs.

Likewise, the Chicago Tribune‘s
editorial board warns:

Illinois lawmakers created a special board in 2011 to encourage
education choice. The Illinois State Charter School Commission has
the power to override local school districts that reject efforts to
open innovative public schools in their communities.

We strongly backed the creation of the commission because
Illinois needs more top-performing charter schools. The idea did
not drum up much controversy. The Illinois House and Senate cast
overwhelming votes in favor of the commission. But there’s already
a move to scrap it.

That move is being led by state Rep. Linda Chapa LaVia and Sen.
Kimberly Lightford, who voted just a couple of years ago to create
the commission.

Chapa LaVia has filed another bill that would preserve the
commission, but allow voters to overturn a decision of the
commission by referendum.

The big problem, from lawmakers’ perspective, is that the
commission actually seems to like charter schools, while the local
districts it overrules to authorize charters almost always don’t.
Also, politics may have played into some of the commission’s
decisions—a not entirely unknown phenomenon in the state of
Illinois, and one that’s likely inevitable in any activity
involving government bodies doling out permissions and funds. The
school districts do the same, but they do so with the approval of
pet legislators.

The result in both New York and Illinois is a threat to one of
the more popular and fast growing education options.

That’s not to say the news is all bad. North Carolina
introduced vouchers to help low-income students attend private
schools, despite lawsuits. Wisconsin has
done the same, while Indiana
expanded its voucher program to nearly 20,000 students.

But there’s no doubt that, in some parts of the country, fans of
old-line, state-dominated education are starting to push back, and
making efforts to limit the options available. If they win any of
their battles, that’s bound to hurt some families and students.