Schools of thought - school choice movement - includes related article on Separation of School & State Alliance

Reason, Jan, 1997 by Rick Henderson

Arizona easily has the most dynamic charter school system. A Hudson Institute survey of seven states with charter schools notes that in several locations, the education establishment has been able to hamstring the embryonic movement with regulations. For instance, some states place an absolute ceiling on the number of schools that can operate: 25 in Massachusetts, 40 in Minnesota, 60 in Colorado.

The Hudson study, co-authored by Checker Finn, found that charter schools did indeed introduce competitive forces into the education marketplace. Charter schools also encouraged much more parental involvement than traditional public schools. The study concluded that, despite facing differing regulatory burdens, "genuine educational innovation is occurring in charter schools," and "charter schools serve the public more like the voluntary institutions of 'civil society' than like conventional public schools."

Many of the sorts of innovations voucher advocates envision - especially those that go beyond traditional classroom settings - are already in place in some charter schools. In Perris, California, for instance, the charter school Choice 2000 On-line is a computer bulletin board offering instructional tools and software by fax and modem to 130 middle and high school students and adults. The City on a Hill Charter School in Boston teaches a college prep curriculum to 65 ninth- and 10th-grade students. The school, which is located in a YMCA, exposes its students to the arts by working with the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Boston Ballet. Livingston Technical Academy, located near Detroit, offers 100 11th and 12th graders a basic academic program along with technical training and 10-week apprenticeships.

It's possible that, as more states consider strong charter school laws, they could have much of the same impact as vouchers on conventional public schools. Consider Seattle, where one-third of the parents educate their children privately. Retired Army Major General John Stanford, the school superintendent, has tried to ease the union's hegemony over school management since being appointed in September 1995. One idea: Require principals to compete for teachers and give them the flexibility to contract for security, maintenance, and food service. This would require rewriting the union's contract with the school district. Negotiations have been tense.

One thing initially helping Stanford, however, was Initiative 177, a charter school initiative on the state ballot. Even though Stanford's employer, the Seattle school board, opposed 177, Stanford told Forbes, "It can be an effective tool. That's why you don't see me speaking out against it." Last summer, when the initiative appeared likely to pass, Stanford was able to get the union to agree to no more than a one-year extension of their existing contract. Had 177 passed, he would have had a lot of leverage to implement his vision of "principals as CEOs." But thanks to lots of money and "volunteers" provided by the NEA, Initiative 177 lost, 37 percent to 63 percent. The establishment can temporarily breathe a bit easier.