«The school district monopoly
over public education facilities is an accident of history,» writes Nelson Smith, one that would not have happened «if there had been more than one choice of provider when the laws were being written.»
Once we * do * address poverty (with more than selfishness, denial and resignation), the next steps to excellent
education for all (that is, great
public schools) are also obvious and proven (
over and
over and
over): 1) Sufficient & equitable funding 2) Decent
facilities 3) Strong teacher training 4) An end to reliance on high - stakes assessments that narrow the curriculum & reduce instruction to drill - and - test tedium