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Home > Blogs > Get on the Bus > Archives > 2006 > September > 09 > Entry
We’re No. 2!
Well, in my view Dayton is still No. 1 — the nation’s biggest charter school city not hit by a hurricane.
Dayton has been the nation’s top charter school city for about four years. The rapid growth of charter schools here, and parent demand for more, had driven this movement from one charter school with about 60 kids when I began covering education here in 1999 to 33 schools with about 6,500 kids today. That’s about 28 percent of public school students in the city.
The only serious contender to Dayton in recent years has been Washington, D.C., hovering in the low 20s. But then came Katrina.
Back when I visited New Orleans in June an odd collection of forces were seeking to pull the public schools back from the physical destruction it endured — the state, the school board, community leaders and even outside players like the federal government and insurers had more indirect roles.
But out of all this turmoil came an opportunity to reshape what may have been the worst city school system in the nation. And the antidote reformers chose first was choice.
With the goal of promoting education outside the broken bureaucratic school system, most of the reopened schools were reborn as charters.
It’s a huge experiment and one that will be fascinating to watch.
Meanwhile, Dayton remains, in my mind, the more classic example of the power and problems of choice, and its on a more manageable scale. Our city remains an important guide to what to expect in the future as choice options grow in other cities.
Permalink | Comments (2) | Categories: Charter Schools and School Choice
Comments
By Oldprof
September 10, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this
Yes, also note that the report from NO is that nobody really knows how many charter schools are operating. Seems to me that the levies are not the only thing that is being neglected.By Mary
September 9, 2006 12:16 PM | Link to this
Related to this topic, on an education related list I am on, a recent study by University of Washington Center for Reinventing Public Education is mentioned regarding charters and choices. The cities featured in the study are apparently Dayton and Miwaulkee.