Reason.tv: More Money Doesn't Make Better Schools - Q&A with E3's Derrell Bradford

Newark, New Jersey spends an astounding $23,141 per student. That money pays for a school system in which 40 percent of high school students pass a standard proficency test.

Why aren't Garden State taxpayers getting more for their money?

To find out, Reason.tv sat down with Derrell Bradford, the founder and CEO of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), which advocates for more school choice in New Jersey.

This interview is part of National School Choice Week, a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Approximately 1 minute. Filmed by Jim Epstein and Meredith Bragg, and edited by Epstein. Interview by Nick Gillespie.

Go to Reason.tv for downloadable versions, and subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel to receive automatic notification when new material goes live.

For Reason.tv's short documentary on school choice in New Orleans, go here.

For Reason.tv's education videos, go here.

For Reason.com's coverage of education, go here.

Comments

[Fist of Etiquette]

...a non-partisan initiative to raise awareness of how competition and choice can transform K-12 education.

Non-partisan, eh? So both conservatives and libertarians are on board with it?

[Fiscal Meth]

There do seem to be quite a few liberals pulling for school choice. The catch is this parent trigger thing. It sounds good and it's better than nothing but it appeals to liberals because, instead of individual choice, it's more like unionizing parents. It's almost like "card check" for where parents allow charters or other reforms by vote. I'm wondering if a possible problem with this is that wherever there's parent trigger but not enough votes to go with charters, individuals wouldn't even have the lottery option because "the people have spoken and they don't want no charters". They seem to want to retain some system of community organization rather than just letting parents pick a school without checking in with any leaders or mobbing up.

[Hobie Hanson]

I wonder what "Derrell Bradford, the founder and CEO of Excellent Education for Everyone (E3), which advocates for more school choice in New Jersey" will say needs to be done to fix our school system. The suspense is killing me! Thanks for finding an objective source to ask about this issue, Reason.

[sevo]

Hobie Hanson|1.26.11 @ 5:03PM|#
"...The suspense is killing me!"

We can only hope so, or at least kill your asinine comments.

[ChrisO]

It's no mystery to me. The Newark public school system, like many others, isn't an education program, but a jobs program. The actual results achieved are only of secondary concern, except insofar as they relate to grabbing federal dollars.

[Harvard]

vouchersvawsharsvouxshearsvowcharsvousharsvowshursvouwchears

[sevo]

"vouchersvawsharsvouxshearsvowcharsvo..."

Why the code word? Be honest, it's "choice".

[Max]

Money doesn't make better magazines either, so hold those donations. No, wait. If Reason had to make it in the free market, it would have to start running stuff that sells, and then it would be a libertarian rag anymore. Donate now!

[DST]

Why do you consider donations to be outside of a free market? Do you have difficulty grouping all voluntary transactions under the same umbrella? If one person thinks Reason is worth $15 a year and something else thinks it's worth $100, what's wrong with Reason accommodating both evaluations?

[cynical]

Wouldn't it be more surprising if a commiefascist troll actually understood the market?

[Old Mexican]

No amount can get us a better pet yorkie.

[Audrey the Liberal]

The best pet yorkie is no pet yorkie.

[sevo]

Max|1.26.11 @ 5:15PM|#
"Money doesn't make better magazines either, so hold those donations."
Stupidity makes a great Max.

[Old Mexican]

Newark, New Jersey spends an astounding $23141.00 per student. That money pays for a school system in which 40 percent of high school students pass a standard proficency test.

Well... the money is not at fault!

Why aren't Garden State taxpayers getting more for their money?

More of what? They're getting exactly what they voted for: Fatter, unionized and happy bureaucrats! They're like the sons and daughters the voters always dreaded!

[Cecil]

That's not what I voted for. I have some small hope that Christie can start to walk back the insanity, just a little.

[Fiscal Meth]

Bureaucrats are incapable of happiness. They live in a terrifying hobbesian universe where there are no values or trade or mutual benefit. Just force and conquest.

[northofmidnight]

Like all government initatives, at a very early stage the quality of public education becomes inversely proportional to the expenditures on its behalf. This is a law of nature, not a systemic failure, and it speaks directly to the nature of force.

[Truth]

The answer is HBD. It is an element that all libertarians must become familiar with.

Dozens of blogs have sprung up related to the idea.

The truth will set you free!

[James J.B.]

Look, it's simple, really. We aren't spending ENOUGH!!!! It takes village, right. More money must be invested. We also need more meaningful laws. And, once these bold moves are undertaken, with the right people in charge, things will all be ok!!!!

😉

[Fiscal Meth]

And when that doesn't work it will be because of all that free market capitalism everywhere.

[nike running shoes]

is good

[alipay]

good