National School Choice Week touts educational options

(The Center Square) – Advocates for schools of choice are currently engaged in marking National School Choice Week, a five-day campaign to raise awareness of educational options available to families in all 50 states.

NSCW is more than days on a calendar, however, according to Andrew Campanella, president of National School Choice Week. NCSW is a nonpartisan nonprofit primarily focused on assisting parents navigate the myriad education choices for their children and is active throughout the year, Campanella told The Center Square.

Among the educational alternatives listed by Campanella are traditional public schools, open-enrollment public schools, private and public school academies, online and home schooling, and magnet schools. NCSW doesn’t participate in political lobbying or promote one method of schooling over another.

According to Campanella, the modern-day school-choice movement took root in 1983. In that year, during the first term of President Ronald Reagan, the National Commission on Excellence issued its controversial report, “A Nation at Risk: The Imperative for Educational Reform.”

“’A Nation of Risk’ identified that students weren’t just competing against students across town, but from around the country,” Campanella said. “It opened eyes to the perception our schools might not be preparing our children for the job market by the end of the 20th century.”

According the report’s authors: “We concluded that declines in educational performance are in large part the result of disturbing inadequacies in the way the educational process itself is often conducted,” read the report, specifically addressing “four important aspects of the educational process: content, expectations, time, and teaching.”

Annette Kirk, co-founder and president of The Russell Kirk Center for Cultural Renewal in Mecosta, served on the Commission on Excellence in 1983. In a phone conversation with The Center Square, Kirk acknowledged the “Nation at Risk” report was only a preliminary step toward education reform.

“We focused on tuition tax credits and vouchers,” Kirk said. “At the time we didn’t envision charter schools, which weren’t introduced in Michigan until Gov. John Engler signed the first charter school legislation into law.”

The legislation signed by Engler became effective in 1994, when nine charter schools opened their doors. According to data provided by the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA), there are currently 292 charter schools in Michigan, providing education for nearly 150,000 – approximately 10% – of the state’s school-age population.

Additionally, Michigan’s charter schools employ approximately 10,000 teachers and more than 1,500 administrators.

“We certainly learned from the work done in the earlier 90s and before that a one-size-fits all approach to education doesn’t work for our children,” MAPSA President Dan Quisenberry told The Center Square.

“We learned from the creation of charter public schools over the last 27 years that these new public schools put the needs of students first, they give teachers the freedom to apply their professional expertise, and they give parents opportunities and a choice for their children,” he said.

Quisenberry noted the COVID-19 pandemic has exposed additional educational challenges; including expanded learning gaps as well as addressing the unique needs of students and parents.

“As we look forward we believe parents and educators will utilize charter public schools and choice to a greater extent as they find innovative solutions to deliver an excellent education for every student,” Quisenberry said.

Although it’s been more than 26 years since the first public school academy opened its doors in Michigan, Ben DeGrow, education policy director at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, said many misperceptions about the schools still persist.

“Charter schools not only are built on direct accountability to parents but also are more likely than other public schools to face the ultimate sanction of being closed if they underperform,” DeGrow said in an email to The Center Square.

Addressing claims from charter school detractors, DeGrow noted: “Charters also cannot discriminate in which students they accept. Newer research demonstrates that, rather than skimming the cream away from the competition, charters help students grow more in their learning while encouraging district schools to step up their game.”

Disclaimer: This content is distributed by The Center Square