Schooling Going Forward

For John, BLUF:  I think the election for Governor of Virginia, and the ongoing contretemps in Loudoun County, Virginia, suggest the Education Establishment may be facing some rough waters ahead.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Biggest Education Innovation Is Growing Use of School Choice

Here is the sub-headline:

Homeschooling, charter schools, and other “alternative” learning approaches are now mainstream.

From Reason Magazine, by Contributing Editor J.D. Tuccille, 1.24.2022, 8:30 AM.

Here is the lede plus four:

It wasn't long ago that "normal" schooling meant public school, understood as some variation on the theme of classes punctuated by the sound of a bell, lunch in a cafeteria, and detours to run around with beat-up gym equipment. Catholic kids had similar experiences at parochial schools and some mostly rich kids went to private academies. Anything else was a little weird and required explanation. But, accelerated by pandemic-era stresses, innovations in recent years brought big changes to education. The biggest change of all is probably the growing acceptance won by charters, homeschooling, and a host of flexible approaches to teaching kids as the old model loses its luster.

Just how much the world has changed came home to me when the tech at my eye doctor's office asked about my son, who attended a charter school with her daughter when the kids were younger. I mentioned that he was thriving as a homeschooler and had just started a laboratory biology class at the community college. Her daughter was also homeschooled, she told me. The girl was technically enrolled in the public high school now, but that was mostly to gain access to community college courses. Her daughter already had two years of college credits put away.

"Northern Arizona University offered her a free ride for the last two years," she told me.

This conversation would have been almost unthinkable when I was in school. But the world has morphed dramatically since then, especially when it comes to our attitude towards education.

"How have your opinions on homeschooling changed as a result of the coronavirus?" EdChoice asks parents every month. In December 2021, 68 percent of respondents reported that they are more favorable to homeschooling than they were before the pandemic. Only 18 percent are less favorable.

There is growing suppport for education savings accounts and school vouchers.  While our Commonwealth Constitution here in Massachusetts would work against such programs providing money for parochial schools, if enough parents were upset it might cause a change to the Constitution.  Or the US Supreme Court might rule that clause unconstitutional.

This might be a wakeup call to public school educators.  On the other hand, it might be interpreted as just a minor hiccup.  If masks and vax mandates go away, and teachers return, this may be the case.  However, this is not something serious thinkers should lightly dismiss, even if they don't talk about it in public.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff