Submitted by David Plank
on 10/12/04 6:07 AM
The choices offered under NCLB are not likely to make much difference, for at least three reasons:
1) In Michigan and other states, the choices available under NCLB are only a small subset of the choices that are already available to families. In many urban districts families are free to enroll in the district school of their choice, in schools in nearby districts, and in charter schools. NCLB does not increase their options.
2) There is a serious incentive problem (with this as with other choice policies). Successful schools that accept transfers from low-performing schools may see their own test scores go down, thus placing themselves on the list of "failing" schools. This is noble but foolish--why should these schools accept transfers?
3) In some districts (e.g., Chicago) the number of places in successful schools is in any case far too small to accommodate all of the children who might want to transfer under NCLB.
