Cheers for NCLB Choice

There are too few voices out there arguing to keep and strengthen NCLB’s transfer provisions, especially given all the resistance, whining and waiver-seeking going on. Supporters, especially those of us on the center and left of center, have another ally and a huge boost from Richard Kahlenberg and the CenturyFoundation. In this hot new paper on improving the NCLB choice provisions, Kahlenberg makes a convincing case for public school choice programs that permit low-income students to move to middle-class schools, and there’s good news here about the achievement gains that can result from socioeconomic integration. (Disc. I also love it cuz the paper underscores many of the recommendations CCCR and Cindy Brown made in our 1994 report, Choosing Better Schools, including amendments to NCLB that would provide meaningful interdistrict transfer options and incentives for receiving schools.) The paper’s the first in a series; look for forthcoming papers in this series from Century to tackle other small, discrete public policy problems like oil-dependence, tax fairness, and the spread of WMDs. Guestblogger Dianne Piche