Paige Warns Districts Of Increased Competition

By Joetta L. Sack

Washington

Secretary of Education Rod Paige warned big-city administrators last week that school choice is taking a new shape, but he said that public schools have the capacity to ward off such competition by improving the education they provide.

In addition to charter schools and private schools, districts are likely to see growing competition from home schooling and new Internet-based education, or "cyber schools," Mr. Paige said here March 18 at the Council of the Great City Schools' annual legislative conference.

"We are in some real serious competition," he said, "and we need to figure out who we are, because we...