How public school teacher failure during pandemic boosted local school choice movement

Santa Clara County teachers’ unions brazen power play in keeping schools closed despite scientific evidence that said it’s okay to reopen may have backfired. Parents around the country are checking out of public schools and private and charter schools are benefitting. Paul Peterson reports in the Wall Street Journal. 

While school districts dithered in the fall and winter, parents explored alternatives. Phones at Boston’s Catholic schools rang incessantly when public schools announced they would remain closed. Charters in South Carolina were so swamped by enrollments they required extra state funding. In New York City, long charter waiting lists grew longer. Nationally, according to the Census Bureau, the number of home-schooled has doubled. District schools admit enrollments are down as much as 3%, very likely a conservative estimate. Some surveys suggest a shift of eight percentage points away from public schools. 

Survey data show a rise in the level of support over the past two years for vouchers, charters, and tax credit scholarships. Political leaders sense a change in the pubic mood. After aggressive unions and bewildered school boards shut down schools for a year, the choice bandwagon has begun to roll.

Read the whole thing here.

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