Reason.tv: 3 Reasons Why School Choice Is Growing

"We take for granted in our lives, choice, in every othere area, whether it's Pop Tarts or cereal or cell phones. But really education is the most important thing," said Reason's Director of Education Lisa Snell, "Especially as a parent, you want your kids to have a solid education."

Snell makes the case that school choice is now at a tipping point. In the United States, more charter schools are cropping up, while tax dollars and voucher systems are now allowing the money to follow the child. Snell says that there is evidence supporting that these new educational options are effective, and less costly, in improving the quality of K-12 education.  

"Kids in America have more choices today than they've ever had before," said Snell, "Every empirical study shows a positiive effect, and no study has found a negative effect." 

National School Choice Week is Jan. 22-28, and has hundreds of events scheduled promoting these ideas. 

About 7 minutes. Produced by Sharif Matar and interviewed by Tracy Oppenheimer.

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

Comments

[AlmightyJB]

Seriously. Hire a web developer.

[o3]

"...while tax dollars and voucher systems are now allowing the money to follow the child."
_

unless LOCAL voters approve the transfer of LOCAL property taxes outta the LOCAL district to for-profit edu corps, then this is govt abuse of property rights. >this has NOT been litigated per my LOCAL school district attorney.

[Sidd Finch]

How is that any different than public school employees living in another district?

[o3]

vouchers =/ wages

[Mr. FIFY]

Any excuse to hate on non-government schools, eh, stOOOpid?

[Juice]

What does it matter? Is the purpose of taxing people to pay for the student's education or to pay for a group of buildings within a certain geographic radius of the collected tax?

[o3]

do you not understand the relationship bet local property taxes & local district funding? >please educate urself

[Sidd Finch]

>please educate urself

*facepalm*

[Juice]

I asked you to educate me on the difference between the current system and vouchers/school choice if the purpose of the tax is to educate the child.

[Brett L]

"National School Choice Week is Jan. 22-18"

Is our children learning?

[Diomasach]

So, where the Paulbots at? I'd love to hear why he voted against school choice for the DC district

[Sidd Finch]

Did he vote against "school choice" or vouchers?

[Tonio]

Plus, were there any unrelated "riders" on the bill?

[illini]

Don't be ridiculous. "School choice" is code for failure. The plethora of choices in vouchers and charter schools is a direct result of a public system of education which has failed. Want proof? Look at Wake County North Carolina. "Choices" are not a badge of honor, but a source of "shame" when we have failed our children.

[Doktor Kapitalism]

Good job, but not vague enough. By the way, your tag is wrong. Tony is spelled T-O-N-Y

Really, do you have any clue about how little choice there is in America? I suspect that, if this example is correct, the district was an abject failure *before* they implemented in modicum of choice.

[Curt]

I'm sorry. I couldn't focus on what Ms. Snell was saying in that interview. I kept waiting for the camera to zoom out, revealing Agent Cooper and Laura Palmer sitting across from her in that red curtained room.

[Emil]

"Every empirical study shows a positiive effect, and no study has found a negative effect."

WOW, that sounds VERY unlikely. Science does not give clean-cut solutions like that. More likely that this person used a definition of "education choose" that is vague enough to be manipulated into such a bizarre shape that only the studies that follow this pattern are included.

[Sidd Finch]

I've been critical of Reason's education stories. A few months ago they had an interview with a Heritage stooge who outright lied about the results of DC vouchers. That said, this is a fair reading of the literature, and it's what someone not living in Lake Wobegon would expect. Parents and children wanted to go to different schools so parental satisfaction and graduation rate improves. High school standardized tests are too g-loaded for teacher performance to matter much so those scores didn't change.

Science does not give clean-cut solutions like that.

That's just bullshit.

[Harvard]

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