Broken Schools.

School Voucher Program Supporters

Divided as we are, have you noticed there is almost universal consensus on one thing: that opportunity and prosperity are still seen to hinge, person by person, on getting a good K-12 education?

And there is also consensus on this: our public schools, in too many places, is broken. Or at least, could be much, much better than they are.

So how to fix them?

This is where consensus breaks down. Because nothing gets people’s ideological backs up quite like the question of how best to teach our kids. You know how it goes. Education becomes an argument not just about what’s in the school books, but also, often, about control, or choice, or unions, or race, or regulation.

And one of the hottest issues — one that encompasses all the above — is the argument over charter schools. The experiment began in one town in Minnesota 25 years ago in the hope that innovation and reform could spring from a new model of public education, one where individual schools get the freedom to write their own rules while still pulling public funding.

25 years in, an argument ensues, between those who see the charter school movement as a proven success, and those who see more damage done than good.

On Wednesday, March 1st, we’re setting these two perspectives up in a face-to-face joust. Here’s our motion:
 
Resolved: Charter Schools Are Overrated

Believe me, our opposing panelists are prepping passionately, serious about persuading you that right is on their side.

I hope to see you in person Wednesday — to be persuaded, or not. And remember, we livestream too.

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