From homeschooling in the heartland to Democratic in-fighting over charters in the Big Apple, here’s a sampling of some of the most interesting school choice reads I’ve come across this week.
School choice buffet? Eighty-seven percent of parents have sent a child to a public school, while more than 25 percent have made use of an alternative type of school... wait, what?... According to Education Next, “The totals add up to more than 100% simply because many families are making use of more than one type of school.”
And here’s a student who’s eating from the choice buffet: Senior Whitman Wilcox V, a New Orleans native, went to a regular district school pre-Katrina, and since then has attended two charter schools, two private Catholic schools, and been homeschooled. He tells NPR about his experience in this Q&A:
Five schools in nine years--http://t.co/DT6dza1AOV pic.twitter.com/3DkBf1Bpoz
— NPR’s Education Team (@npr_ed) September 9, 2014
An interesting look inside Indiana’s homeschooling laws and a homeschooling family in this story from StateImpact Indiana.
When policymakers start talking about regulating homeschooling, often times homeschool parents hear that as regulating parenting. [That] strikes a nerve that's a little bit more intense." —StateImpact Indiana reports on home schooling in the state, and why it's so hard to know if it's growing trend.
How Indiana Regulates Homeschooling (Hint: Not Much...) http://t.co/6OwbdkOb01
— StateImpact Indiana (@StateImpactIN) September 10, 2014
“Did I do everything right in D.C.? Absolutely not.” —Michelle Rhee in a Q&A with OZY. She also talks about her plans post-Students First. You can read the full conversation here.
Check the ‘it’s complicated’ box—The New York Times Magazine dives in:
The Education Issue: The Battle for New York Schools: Eva Moskowitz vs. Mayor Bill de Blasio http://t.co/r8Si1YFkiJ
— NYT Magazine (@NYTmag) September 3, 2014
Are charter schools the next union frontier?
I tell everyone that I meet in conversation after conversation about what we've done in the hopes that the info will get out to other charter school teachers," —an educator from a recently unionized charter school in Alameda, Calif. This is a story I reported on the California Teachers Association ramping up its organizing efforts in charter schools.
I hope to make this roundup a weekly ritual on Charters & Choice. Don’t hesitate to tweet recommendations to me @ChartersNChoice for next week’s roundup.