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The best kind of school choice reax

Now here’s a prime example of the sort of thing that’s supposed to happen with school choice. First, some background is in order. Massachusetts passed public school choice legislation back in 1991. Upshot on the program: school districts can opt out of the program, parents can elect to take their children to a different school, and the state will even reimburse low income parents for transportation costs.

Well, according to one mayor, the whole thing has been a "disaster":

Mayor James M. Ruberto has classified the volume of students leaving the city’s school district due to school choice as a disaster. The Pittsfield public schools have experienced a 21 percent increase in the number of students who have left to attend school in other districts this year, according to Business Manager Sally Douglas.

Douglas said 41 more students had left city schools for other districts as of Oct. 1, the date when the School Department is required to provide the state Department of Education with its official enrollment figures. The total number of those students has risen from 200 to 241 pupils.

Last year, the number of students who left Pittsfield for other districts increased by 27 pupils, from 173 to 200.

241 students may not sound like much, but the article says the district’s per-pupil expenditure is $6,000. Multiply by 241 = $1.4 million. So yeah, it hits ’em where it hurts.

Now, the school board could whine about needing more funding. Or it could demand an exemption to the law (or even a repeal). Instead, look at the response.

"It’s about time we identify these kids and talk to their parents what it is about our school system that causes students to leave," Ruberto said. "We have to understand what’s going on. It’s stripping us of money we can use for our own students."

In other words, in the face of declining revenues, the administrators are responding to the desires of the parents! Which, of course, was the whole point all along. Contrast that with the sad story of Dorian Cain for an example on the other end of the spectrum.