Philadelphia: School Choice Has Harmed, Not Helped, the City’s Public Schools
Back in the early days of school choice advocacy, it was often claimed that school choice would “force” the public schools to compete and they would get better because of the magic of the market.
Now we know that was a selling point, and it was not true.
Deborah Gordon Klehr, executive director of the civil rights group Education Law Center-PA, writes about the negative effects of “school choice” on the public schools of Philadelphia.
The publics schools in that city have long been severely underfunded, and school choice has stripped them of both students and funding, leaving them even worse off.
Klehr writes:
A study of charter schools in Philadelphia published by the Education Law Center earlier this year is a stark reminder that many parents don’t get to choose and that ultimately it may be the school and not the parent doing the choosing. More charters and more slots haven’t cured an ailing school system.
This is not to discount the successes we know exist for students in many city charters. But Philadelphia’s 22-year history of rapid charter expansion coupled with CONTINUE READING: Philadelphia: School Choice Has Harmed, Not Helped, the City’s Public Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
