Friday, August 26, 2005

National Governor's Association on School Choice

The National Governors Association has released this report designed to help states expand quality school choice programs. I have not gotten through the whole report yet, but this from the Executive Summary:

States have identified approximately 20,000 schools that did not meet expectations for adequate yearly progress and more than 11,000 schools that failed to meet adequate yearly progress for two consecutive years. Increasingly, policy leaders are concluding that providing quality education options can raise student achievement and improve existing schools.


Later on in teh summary:

Between 1993 and 2003, the percentage of students in grades 1-12 choosing to attend a public school other than their assigned public school increased from 11 percent to 15 percent, while the percentage attending assigned public schools decreased from 80 percent to 74 percent. The percentage of students attending private schools also increased during this period. This increase, however, was smaller than the increase in the percentage of students attending a public school other than their assigned public school.


As an aside, what about the data on home schoolers?

What I find interesting is the decrease in students attending assigned public schools, six percent is a big number among the universe of students in America. When, if ever, will public school administrators wake up and smell the coffee, Americans are increasingly frustrated with the ability of public schools to provide the necessary education for their kids.

More on the report when I finish reading it.

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