Questions about the value of charter schools have been raised, and continue to be raised, by detractors who wish to continue the status quo.
Many are left/liberal in the political spectrum, and even if not, entrenched interests in education-as-is will not be moved by arguments of efficiency, achievement, or choice in its current, somewhat bastardized (forgive me) form. What I mean by this is that costs associated with proposed choices are intended to be spread to people who are neither making nor, arguably, benefitting from the choice decisions. (The econ arguments and data go both ways, and I’m sidestepping them here.)
In an earlier post, I noted that supporters of charter schools have a tough row to hoe on achievement grounds, but the jury is still out, I presume.
So why are some conservative/libertarian types opposing charters? It’s not because they love the status quo, but because many see the current attempt to expand charter schools as a diversion from the real task of creating a marketplace for education. This turned out to be the subject of a recent CATO Institute conference, “Creating a True Marketplace in Education.”
Some of the most eminent people in education policy today served as panelists: Richard Vedder of Ohio University, Claudia Hepburn of the Fraser Institute, Andrew Coulson of the Macinac Institute, Robert Enlow [Executive Director] of the Milton and Rose Friedman Foundation, Myron Lieberman of the Education Policy Institute, John Merrifield of UT San Antonio, John Wenders of the University of Idaho, and Lisa Snell of the Reason Public Policy Institute. There was no monolithic position, nor was it a trashing event. Nevertheless, it is clear that the dominant perspective was that freedom trumps achievement data.
Status-quo charter detractors would like to keep the charter movement marginal, and if achievement data remain underwhelming or inconclusive, they will. In the search for allies, charter advocates could benefit from attention to these pro-freedom (not necessarily synonymous with pro- school choice) education arguments. It’s worth a listen.
