The Other Cost Of School Choice
When we discuss the cost of school choice–charters, vouchers, and even homeschooling–we usually focus on the economic impact, the loss of local control, or the policy impact on educational institutions. But on the classroom level, there is another real impact.
Robert Pondiscio touches on it in his new book about Success Academy charters schools, How The Other Half Learns:
“The most common objection to charter schools and publicly financed charter school initiatives is that schools of choice ‘siphon resources away’ from traditional public schools. One such ‘resource’ is engaged and invested parents.”
And, one might add, engaged and invested students. Every classroom culture is shaped not just by teachers and building administration, but by the students in the classroom. Students can have a huge effect on the tone of the classroom–is there a steady pressure to achieve, or is acting smart just not cool? Particularly in high school, students learn about peer effects, about how to lead and how to elevate leaders. Strong students can raise a class’s achievement level in ways that a teacher can not.
Most of us have stories. I learned to play trombone in high school in large part from trying to keep pace with the upperclassman who was CONTINUE READING: The Other Cost Of School Choice
