Gene V. Glass, distinguished researcher of education at Arizona State University, surveys the amazing spread of school choice in Arizona and asks what are the results of the spread of choice. You have heard the stories about how vouchers and charters will “save poor kids from failing schools,” will create competition to improve public schools, will work wonders for everyone. It turns out that Arizona is the choice capital of the world but is still waiting for that miraculous success that its advocates promised and still promise.
Professor Glass shows how dramatically choice has spread across Arizona, with the urging of choice advocates in the government and the private sector.
Glass writes:
Now Arizona is the school choice capital of the world: 1) 500 charter schools – soon to be closer to 600 if New Schools for Phoenix has its way, and they will; 2) huge virtual academies run by out-of-state companies like K12 Inc.; 3) open enrollment laws; 4) tuition tax credits subsidizing families sending their kids to religious schools; and 5) a history of active homeschooling. In fact, the number of students whose parents have “chosen” is staggering. There are 1,100,000 students of K-12 school age in Arizona. Of that number, 180,000 attend charter schools, 200,000 have exercised their right to switch school districts under open enrollment laws, and about 80,000 attend private (mostly religious)schools or are homeschooled. That amounts to more than 400,000 “choice students” in Arizona out of a population of a little more than one million for a choice ratio of about 40% plus.
With nearly half of all students enjoying the benefit of choice – with its effects on driving incompetent teachers out of work, shutting down bad schools, stimulating private and public schools to reach higher levels of effort and innovation – the condition of K-12 education in Arizona must be nothing short of fantastic!
But, to hear the state’s politicians and business leaders speak of it, Arizona’s school systems are terrible. Below average; lagging behind other nations; a threat to the economy of the entire state; not preparing students for college or careers; in need of major reforms; bring on the Common Core. Arizona’s education system is the paragon of choice, and yet it is a mess. Somebody needs to get their stories straight.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
The referenced article is from Feb. 2014. Any updates on the matter in the last 15 months?
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Robert,
I will ask Gene Glass. From what I know, things have not gotten better in Arizona–I was there a few months ago. The charter industry is booming.
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It gets to the point where even if every student were an Einstein they’d still be considered failing. If you can never get that carrot on the stick, eventually you just quit trying.
Yet, it’s our children we are talking about, so, as parents, we need to get creative, such as in opting out. Perhaps it’s time for a March on Washington – all the soccer moms can get together and drive their filled up vans onto the White House Lawn demanding the reformers find another issue for meddling.
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Does this mean that the few remaining real public schools need to be choiced out of existence or that the chosen schools stink?
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Anecdotal information: While visiting AZ on vacation I had a chance encounter with a grandmother who was homeschooling her two grandchildren children using AZ virtual charter school which is run by K12. She loved it for several reasons: her kids weren’t in large classrooms where they were anonymous; the kids could move at their own pace and do the work when they wanted to do it; and the kids could do outdoor activities like hiking and mountain biking; her grandson could spend more time working on playing the fiddle. It sounded like the school her grandson had been assigned to was becoming progressively understaffed and overcrowded and— as she and her grandson described it— “all they worked on was getting ready for tests”. Generalizing from the particular can be dangerous, but from what the grandmother and her grandchild reported there are many who are abandoning bricks and mortar for virtual education.
Some would look at this anecdote as evidence that the K12 charters are giving youngsters an opportunity to spread their wings… I look at it as evidence that the ones who benefit most are the shareholders of the virtual schools and the ones who lose the most are the children left in the overcrowded and test crazed public schools— the kids who don’t have a grandmother to help them out or the kids whose parents cannot afford to send them to one of the spiffy new private schools that operate in a parallel universe.
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Fascinating response to this grandmother. I certainly wouldn’t say virtual schools are for everyone. But I’ve also talked with youngsters for example, from suburban high schools who were relentlessly bullied or ridiculed because they did not fit the typical suburban stereotype – and loved being in a virtual school.
WGerson – would you eliminate this option?
As to the kids in mainstream schools – how about actively working on a broader array of assessments and giving district as well as charter educators opportunities to create new, more appropriate options. We’re working on this agenda, described here in an Ed Week blog
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/Bridging-Differences/2015/05/whats_are_priorities_for_a_pro.html
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I agree, online courses should be available in the Public Schools. And they already are. In my area students who are behind can take online courses to meet graduation requirements. They can even do it on their own time in the school library or with an assigned teacher after school (to answer questions). Many students do well, but others struggle – you need a lot of self discipline and the will (grit) to overcome obstacles when the coursework gets tough.
The technology is available. We could also individualize instruction via Skype to allow students to take electives not offered by their building, but available elsewhere – including AP or even college courses.
If the real goal is to provide a rigorous education, why not give the students more options to pursue their interests prior to choosing a college major. Instead of hunkering down and focusing on reading and math skills, open up the curriculum to include subjects which interest the individual.
Imagine an IEP (Individual Education Plan) for each student, revisited a couple of times a year to make sure they are on track. Now we are talking getting ready for future endeavors.
Forget the assessments and focus on the child. I guarantee the results will be amazing.
Ellen #PreachingToTheChoir
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I wouldn’t eliminate the option… but I would create incentives for existing public schools to incorporate virtual learning into their existing programming instead of creating incentives for deregulated for-profit schools to corner this market. I am 100% for CBE examinations as opposed to the standardized norm-referenced tests that REGULATED schools must follow but DEREGULATED for-profit schools can ignore. We have the technological capability to allow students to learn at their own pace under the tutelage of a caring and knowledgeable adult or team of adults. We’re just not using it well.
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WGersen – we agree on the value of competency based exams (if this is what you mean by CBE).
In most states district & charters must take the same statewide tests.
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