Katie Osgood: Choice or Equity -- You Can't Have Both
Guest post by Katie Osgood.
Note: This post is a followup to the discussions triggered by this post, The Education Reform Dichotomy, Big Choices Ahead.
'No Excuses' Reformers make the central claim that offering "choice" is a fundamental mechanism to closing the achievement gap. They say that students and families must be "saved" from their failing schools through "high-quality" options. They say that only when families have "choice" will we reach equal educational opportunity in our schools.
But what is the reality of "choice"?
"Choice" is the decision to give more to some and less to others. Outside the one-time smatterings of philanthropic donations, no new money is being pumped into school budgets. In fact, school budget belts are being tightened like never before. And what we see is school monies being redistributed into an even stronger
Note: This post is a followup to the discussions triggered by this post, The Education Reform Dichotomy, Big Choices Ahead.
'No Excuses' Reformers make the central claim that offering "choice" is a fundamental mechanism to closing the achievement gap. They say that students and families must be "saved" from their failing schools through "high-quality" options. They say that only when families have "choice" will we reach equal educational opportunity in our schools.
But what is the reality of "choice"?
"Choice" is the decision to give more to some and less to others. Outside the one-time smatterings of philanthropic donations, no new money is being pumped into school budgets. In fact, school budget belts are being tightened like never before. And what we see is school monies being redistributed into an even stronger