The public school choice provision of the No Child Left Behind act isn't all that different from a federal choice program created two years ago, writes Alexander Russo in this month's Washington Monthly, and the lesson of that Clinton-era program is that providing viable transfer options for children in failing schools is far harder than it sounds. Expect the new program to be limited, Russo says, by lack of enthusiasm on the part of bureaucrats, who will have trouble finding space for children in non-failing schools, and by lack of interest on the part of parents. He considers three ways to improve options for kids in failing schools: work harder to find slots for them to transfer into and to let parents know about their right to transfer their kids; set up "mandatory choice" programs that force all parents to actively choose a school for their child; and increase the supply of better schools through measures like vouchers and charter schools. But he's not too hopeful. In the end, he concludes, we should just focus on fixing the schools these children already attend-as if that were an option that has been considered and rejected. "When School Choice Isn't" by Alexander Russo, The Washington Monthly, September 2002.
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Alexander Russo