Mesa, Arizona is my hometown. I was raised there and attended its public schools. As you know, Arizona has the nation’s most liberal, pardon the term, charter school law. Last year, the district lost 700 students to 38 charter schools in the district and to home schooling.
The district is responding by paying a PR firm $50,000 to “hone the districts image,” the wrong response to competition.
But on the other hand, the district is providing more alternative choices for parents in side the district, a move in the right direction. The district superintendent is states:
“It’s not competition in that we’re seeing who can get the most kids,” Duvall said. “It’s probably competition in that we try to be sure we provide an array of programs to meet their needs – so they don’t feel the need to go someplace else.”
See the Goldwater Institute comment here and the local newspaper article here.
