An article in the St. Petersburg (Fla.) Times points to a growing, overdue shakeup in public education.
Despite opposition by teachers unions, the state of Florida provides education vouchers to some children from low-income families. With the roughly $4,000 vouchers, children in failing public schools may attend private schools instead.
Ironically, Florida's voucher program has become a victim of its own success. About 21,500 students took part last year, and most of those heard about the vouchers only through word of mouth, the St. Petersburg paper reported. An additional 6,000 students wanted to take part but couldn't because opponents of vouchers placed limits on contributions by corporations, which get tax credits when they donate to organizations that grant the vouchers.
That may change soon, though. A Republican lawmaker in Florida has seen the success of the vouchers and has proposed legislation to expand eligibility to thousands more students.
We can see why he is so enthusiastic. The state saves $3,000 per student with vouchers because they are far less costly than what the state spends per student in traditional public schools.
But vouchers are only part of the school choice equation.
Hamilton County and many school systems around the country have embraced charter schools. Charter schools are publicly funded, but they do not labor under the bureaucracy that can make teaching and learning much harder in traditional public schools. Microsoft founder Bill Gates backs charter schools, having seen amazing results in some that his foundation supports.
Many other students attend homeschools.
Students perform best when they and their parents are able to select the schools they will attend. They may be traditional public schools for most, charter schools for some and private or homeschools for others.
The growth in the number of legitimate options in education is encouraging and should be promoted both locally and nationwide.