You decide: What “works” in education?
The Heritage Foundation’s The Foundry Blog shares: Universal School Choice Prevails – For Sweden. Yeah, you read that right. Sweden.
In socialist Sweden, universal school choice allows every parent to choose the best school for their child. The voucher program, which has been in effect since 1992 and was created to tackle the kind of problems plaguing the U.S. educational system, provides families with the opportunity to send their child to any type of school they like – public, private, religious, or even for-profit. Stuart Butler, Heritage Vice President of domestic policy studies, explains in Washington Times:
“These independent schools, like the public schools, get a voucher payment for each child. They compete vigorously with one other because the money follows the child to the school of his or her choice. Schools must satisfy their customers … or lose them.”
Sure it’s still Sweden, so there are some drawbacks- schools must all follow a national curriculum and testing- but perhaps there is something to be learned from this model. Schools are given control over their programs and teaching styles, and are actually being forced to satisfy customers, i.e. families? Now that is an ed reform that makes some sense.
Meanwhile, back here in the States, we have teacher’s unions and others actually blocking the doors to children at a charter school. As in last week. September 2009! Really? Is that what the world is coming to? Are unions so threatened by competition that they’ll have members yell at children simply trying to get into their school so they can actually learn?!
Pathetic doesn’t even begin to describe it…
What works? You decide.
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