He came from a marketing background, and it's well-known in the private sector that you have to have specialization, competition, lots of choices. Why can't we use that model in education? Nothing more different than our children: different learning styles, aptitudes, and family situations.
We're starting with a one-size-fits-all model and trying to help people on the edges. That's the opposite of what we want to do if we want to meet students where they are and help them move forward.
No business could produce quality with a system like the one we have in education. "It cannot work." When you're losing ground, losing market share, you have to try something different.
Why is there such resistance to change in education? The answer is political. Not what works for children, what works for unions.
Consider Medicare Part D: Because of the influx of funds for prescriptions, the private sector invested, built new pharmacies, offered new services. What if we made even half of k-12 education's funding available for parents? Imagine how the private sector would respond.
Then he promoted his A-Plus Act: Allow states to experiment and try to find out what works.
