WY needs more school choices
Saturday, November 24, 2007
By Jason Miller
Choice and competition improve most things for consumers. Long distance phone service, automobiles and food quality, for example. We know that one size shoe doesn’t fit every person, and it’s common sense that different kids learn different ways. That’s why education reformers want to introduce more choices and more parental control into the school system.
Most Wyoming communities don’t offer much in the way of school choice. There are, however, some notable exceptions.
The Jackson area does have more options in schools than other parts of the state. Two wonderful, expensive private schools offer those with the fortune and those fortunate enough to win a scholarship the chance for a world-class education. Jackson Hole also has an alternative high school with a hard-working boss that connects with those kids that had troubles elsewhere.
Casper allows total choice within the public school district and has a variety of magnet and specialized schools so that parents can pick the program that best fits their children. And Laramie has Snow Range Academy, the state’s only independent charter school, which boasts amazing student performance and a rigorous curriculum.
But attempts to bring school choice elsewhere have generally been met with strong opposition. Attempts to start charter schools in Lander and Albin were rebuffed with harsh words from the governing boards. Parents who think that different styles of education will help some kids are treated like traitors to the community.
Jackson Hole’s own school board twice rejected charter schools, which would have been free and open to the public. Instead Jackson ended up with two private schools that are expensive and out of reach of many.
Wyoming’s laws do not allow for school vouchers, which put a parent’s tax dollars back in their own hands to choose their kids’ education. Even the idea of charter schools is thwarted by Wyoming statutes that make a district board with a financial conflict of interest the only body able to authorize new schools.
Proponents of the status quo in Wyoming point to the Cowboy State’s success in education. Nationally, 2,300 schools are listed as “failing” under the No Child Left Behind Act, requiring them to restructure or take drastic action. None of those are in Wyoming. State Superintendent Jim McBride says Wyoming schools aren’t on that list because of the vision of lawmakers and education officials. I say that no Wyoming schools are on that list because the state is pumping tons of money into schools.
You can buy your way out of failing, but you can’t buy excellence. Excellent schools are a product of diversity and curriculum that matches the students, not a one-size-fits-all approach. That’s something you get with school choice. Parents should have the ability to make a choice in their kid’s school, whether it’s gifted-and-talented education, hands-on learning or an old-fashioned Great Books curriculum.
Even Jackson Hole does not have as much school choice as communities in states where the legislature has recognized the importance of choice and made it a priority. The wealthy will always have a choice for their kids. They can afford private tuition or send their kids off to school elsewhere. Sometimes the poor are blessed with scholarships for private tuition from generous philanthropists. But middle-class school choice is where you see your test results go up and how you earn a national reputation for educational excellence and innovation.
That none of Wyoming’s schools are failing is good news. The voters of this state should pressure the legislators to reform Wyoming’s laws to enable more school choice. Universities and community colleges should be allowed to open charter schools. An independent state commission should be allowed to authorize independent, public charter schools. Home schoolers should be given access to state curriculum and textbooks.
The focus of education should be on what’s best for the children, not what’s best for the teachers, their union, or superintendents. This requires both choice and competition.
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WY needs more school choices | Planet JH News Article: General News
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