Different Directions

Public school choice offers students a chance to follow their interests, but it comes at a price, chipping away at the sense of community once common among neighbors.

By Kevin Bushweller

Lake Ridge, Va.

The teenager’s sales pitch I was hearing in my kitchen made me realize just how much public education has changed.

Matt Ragghianti, 17—his 6-foot-3 frame towering over me, my wife, and my 5th grade son, Devin—was telling us why Devin should eventually choose to attend Gar-Field, our local high school. Matt had a litany of selling points: The 2,800-student school is not as rough as its reputation; the International Baccalaureate program it offers is great for college-bound teenagers; the swim team was fun; and he had an opportunity to play lacrosse (Devin’s favorite sport).

Matt, who sometimes baby-sits my three sons, had his reasons for making the pitch. And one of them was that he was simply defending his choice to stick with Gar-Field. After all, the 10 high school students on my quarter-mile street attend no fewer than four different public high schools, a startling exercise of educational choice even...