@Akronite
The use of vouchers and/or open enrollment(empowerment) drives improvement in the system. Schools must focus on serving the customers(parents & children) rather than serving the bureaucracy, and all the special interests that orbit the bureaucracy.
When we put money on a family's EBT card we don't tell them they can only use it at Kroger. They can spend those tax dollars at Whole Foods, IGA, Publix, etc. They choose!
Those stores are all still subject to the rules, regulations and inspections as a retailer of food. Any school would have to be subject to regulations and certifications in order to be permitted to accept vouchers.
Does it help students and school districts?
If parents didn't think it would be positive for their children they would stay put and things would remain as they are now...no better, no worse. If they choose to change schools and it is not an improvement, they can choose to go back or choose another school.
Who cares if it helps school districts? They only exist to serve students. I don't care if failing school districts lose all their students and cease to exist. Their buildings and property will be acquired by thriving schools that need the space or some other entity.
And again, this does NOTHING for a failing school. That's why I'm far more interested in learning what you meant about schools refusing to change their practices toward more successful models. Taking kids and funding away from failing schools doesn't fix the problem for those schools that some students will be depending on.
Again, its not any individual school we should care about. We are concerned that every child has an opportunity for a good education. We don't care where he gets that education any more than we care where EBT cardholders buy their groceries. This is not just semantics. Empowering the consumer to define good and bad schools through their choices is akin to the way consumers of hamburgers determine whether to patronize Wendys or Burger King.
In practice, there will not be massive movements of students immediately. But the framework will be in place that drives poor schools to improve and good schools to expand.
School A, that goes from 500 students to 400 will have to cut 20% of staff and quickly improve their product in the eyes of parents. If they continue to disappoint their customers they will continue to shrink.
School B, that goes from 400 to 500 students will expand and plan for further expansion, hire more people and continue doing what works.
In any event, we have more kids in good schools and less in a bad schools, as defined by parents. That is what we want right? That gets us moving in the right direction...in one year. Now project out 5 years, or 10, or 20.
Perhaps School A will hire a few administrators from School B, implement their practices and right themselves.
Forget Private vs Public vs Charter. Any School that meets the regulations would be eligible to receive vouchers. When I buy a hamburger I don't care if the restaurant owner is profit, non-profit or a part-time nudist. I care about the quality of the hamburger.
Obviously, no school could reject a student until they reached maximum capacity. There would be other details to work out. The validity of the concept is the key thing.
For decades we have had huge school district serving huge numbers of kids and serving them badly. Those families deserve an alternative.