Choice is an Intrinsic Good

Much of the focus on charter schools is on whether they do or will increase performance. While performance is important, it is not the only reason for charter schools. Charters provide something for public school students that private school students already receive: the freedom to choose.

Part of what makes choices so great is the freedom it can provide. In the private school market, parents and students have the ability to choose between traditional or progressive schools, art schools or engineering schools, single sex or co-ed schools. I do not believe that one model of school is better than the other, but that each model can be effective for certain types of students. Some children may do better in a single-sex environment. Some students will do much better in a school that supports their artistic creativity. It is only fair that public school students have this same freedom.

Some of the early studies of charter schools have shown at most modest improvements in performance. But even when there was no detectable increase in performance, parental happiness over their charter schools has been high. To me, this signifies that parents are happy that they have this option.

By giving more people the ability to choose their model of education, we give them control over their (or their child's) future. We hope this will lead to better performance. But at least we are giving them the freedom to decide for themselves what type of school they want. If we ignore this, we ignore one of the biggest reasons for charter schools.