(continued from page 13 - The Maturation of Choice) Today we have the opportunity to reflect on a generation and a half of progression down this path. Arizona’s experiment with school choice has definitely affected our education system. Today half of Arizona’s million plus students attend a school other than that which their residence would prescribe. Of those students, close to half choose a traditional public school either in their district or in another district. Three quarters of the remaining students attend charter schools, and the last group comprising about 60,000 students pursue private tuition-based solutions. Within the narrative of choice, we need to be careful not to mischaracterize the largest group as non-choosers. Like the quarter of all students who choose to attend a district school alternative to their residentially proscribed school, these parents choose to send their children to the school they fund with their tax dollars that is near where they live. To ascribe greater value to the choice of one group of parents is to claim some are more enlightened than others. What this shows us is that three out of every four parents choose to send their children to traditional public schools in a state where alternatives are at their most robust. In rural communities the effects of Arizona’s choice bases system are a bit muted. The need to compete for students has spurred many metropolitan communities to take steps that improve educational quality using tools not available to most rural districts. At the same time, economies of scale are necessary to make communities attractive to private businesses operating high quality charter schools. The small mom-and-pop charter schools provide a welcome alternative for the parents “Stronger Together!” Page 16 who are dissatisfied with their traditional public school. However, these schools struggle to fit teacher pay into limited budgets and can’t find facilities to meet their needs. On a growing list of policy questions, the interests of the small town and rural public school in Arizona align with those of the charter school operator more closely than the large metropolitan district. If you have been watching the progress of this legislative session, you know there are many steps being taken to fix marginal issues like parent access and critical race theory. Marginal because they do not affect day to day operations in most schools in a meaningful way. There are also steps being taken to address some significant issues. For the past five years, ARSA has focused its advocacy efforts on two priorities - funding and accountability. These issues shape our conversations with those who make policy decisions and how we use our resources. Understanding how Arizona’s choice-based education system plays a part in these efforts is essential to evaluating choice from a rural perspective. As I mentioned earlier, rural schools and charter schools share ground on some funding issues. The white paper issued in March by pro-choice A for Arizona points out that the principal funding mechanisms used to enhance school quality - bonds and overrides, are blocked dejure for charter schools and defacto for rural schools. Any effort to address this inequality needs to include the rural voice. Likewise the state’s accountability system is problematic for small student populations both rural and charter. A system that focuses solely on test score performance and fails to take (continued on page 19)
17 Publizr Home