Dayton Daily News education reporter Scott Elliott writes about schools, kids, teaching and learning.
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Friday, March 17, 2006
Lessons from Dayton
It looks like Detroit is the first big city school district to be dramatically affected by market forces. They could learn a lot from looking at Dayton.
Enrollment there is dropping dramatically while charter schools have grown. They’re closing schools left and right. The districts is being forced to constantly readjust its budget and is consistently underestimating its enrollment losses. And even private schools are closing as enrollment declines there have hit a critical point.
The Detroit News story I cited doesn’t get into the charter school impact. But last year when I was living in Michigan, reading the daily news of the Detroit schools had a familiar tone.
An advantage Dayton has that Detroit lacks is a cohesive school board committed to financial stability. Dayton also got some lucky financial breaks that helped. But I’ve often wondered what might have happened if the district hadn’t responded aggressively to the financial challenges of choice. What if the competition had forced a real financial collapse?
Detroit, with its paralyzing politics and managerial struggles, could show us. If you’re interested in school choice, this is one to watch.
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