School choice is a terrible concept, so bad, in fact, that it is amazing that more politicians don’t favor it. “School choice” says that we are unwilling to reform the existing system, face down the school unions, get rid of social engineering issues, push/challenge the students and demand results from the tendered resources. Rather than confront these issues, choicers want to simply start another system over there and pay for it with resources diverted from the old system.
But, how long do you think it will take for both systems to demand, in the aggregate, more resources than just the old and unions demanding more pay/less work/no supervision in the new systems and parents, unwilling/unable to participate in the process but demanding miraculous results and politicians pandering to the parents of the idiot children who think the new system cuts into their texting time, sets unreasonable dress codes and doesn’t adequately recognize the educational value of rappers and other black celebrities?
Choicers are simply deferring the problems. The solution is to get rid of the teachers’ unions and start demanding results from the teachers. They are adequately compensated (especially for the results they achieve); they just need to be kicked in the butt and be held accountable. One simple step might be be more selective when allowing high school students to enter teachers’ ed programs; bad applicants guarantee bad graduates and bad teachers.
