The evolution of school choice and charter schools

Ruth Ward
Commentary
School choice, school funding and declining student population continue to be top priority topics of interest and discussion. The growth of charter schools in the United States and the perception they “take away” students from traditional public schools is very much a current topic.

So, where did the concept of “charter schools” originate?

Chartering did not come out of the blue. School choice has been around since colonial days and the early theorist John Stuart Mills supported it.

Many studies, papers and reports have been written calling for sweeping K-12 reforms. In 1962, Milton Friedman’s book “Capitalism and Freedom” was published. In this book, he was describing the potential of market forces to strengthen educational quality, efficiency and productivity. Friedman favored a competitive, private sector model and did not think that government should deliver education directly. Needy families would be given vouchers that could be redeemed for education at any state-approved school.

Four years after Friedman’s book was published, well known sociologist James Coleman contradicted the central premise of President Johnson’s Elementary and Secondary Education Act by showing that “there is no reliable relationship between what goes into a school by way of funding, programs and rules and what comes out by way of learning.” It was a damning critique.

This is the backdrop to what we now refer to as “standards-based reform,” which includes the crucial charter school concept of holding a school accountable for its results. The book, “A Nation at Risk” came out informing the nation that the K-12 system was not working well enough.

This is all a long way of saying that despite what its opponents may tell you, school choice, vouchers, and other options in education are not new or unproven concepts.

The idea of the charter school in the United States originated with Ray Budde, a school teacher and, later, a professor at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst in 1974. He had published a paper where he described a form of chartering. It did not get much response but he persevered with the idea.

In 1988, he tried again with a treatise called “Education by Charter: Restructuring School Districts.” This paper caught the attention of Albert Shanker, President of the American Federation of Teachers in 1988. In a speech at the National Press Club, he advocated for the reform of public schools by establishing “charter schools” or “schools of choice.” Shanker expanded on Budde’s focus, seeing chartering also as a way to foster teacher professionalism by allowing them to start new schools.

Before long, the chartering ideas reached Minnesota, where they caught the attention of a group of educators and policy innovators. One of them was State Senator Ember Reichgott, a Democrat, who would introduce and eventually help pass that state’s pathbreaking charter school law. It did not come easy, however. The state’s two teachers’ unions fiercely opposed the charter school concept. However, with legislative allies from both sides of the aisle, Reichgott’s bill was passed and signed into law on June 4, 1991. It was the nation’s first charter school law.

The dust has not settled on charter schools as a choice in education. Charter schools as well as traditional public schools are open for criticism. Neither is perfect. The exciting thing is that we have choices for education with the ultimate goal of serving our students.

— Note: References for this article came from on-line sources; edCHOICE, K12 academics, Education Next, and PublicCharter Schools Insider).

Sen. Ruth Ward (R-Stoddard) represents District 8 in the New Hampshire Senate.