DIFFERING VIEWS FROM THE CANDIDATES FOR THE MISSOURI SENATE, DISTRICT 27: DEMOCRAT BETTY HEARNES

I have great reservations about choice of public schools even though I recognize that research indicates that higher academic performance is frequently associated with schools of choice. However, I must note that this association does not imply causality.

The higher academic performance associated with schools of choice is a result of the implementation of "effective schools correlates" identified in the late 1970s and early 1980s from the research of educators like Ron Edmonds, Larry Lazotte, Stewart Purkey and Marshall Smith. Relatedly, there is hardly any research to determine the extent to which the students and families exercising choice, or being chosen, would have exhibited relatively high levels of achievement had they not been in a school choice configuration.

Inadequate tool

My view is that by itself, school choice is not a sufficient "tool" to address all the challenges of public education, nor is school choice necessarily the best tool to address particular challenges of public schooling. In this context, school improvement strategies pertaining to (1) family nurturance and preservation, (2) the identification of student learning outcomes (and holding schools accountable for these outcomes), and (3) meaningful parental involvement in schools are more promising for long-term school improvement than school choice.

Public education is not a private enterprise that can be improved and regulated with market-place techniques. Weaker districts will be sure to suffer financially from student exodus. Students without "choosy" parents or without the family resources necessary to exercise choice will be left behind in weak districts that can only get weaker.

What about accountability?

Then there is the problem of accountability. School districts are political subdivisions and as such are run by locally elected board members. If the school is poorly run, local voters can replace board members. If the school is in need of revenues, local voters can pass bond issues or increase their levy.

However, when parents send their children to a district where they have no voice in selecting school board members or in financing the school, they cannot hold the school accountable. Conversely, when parents no longer send their child to the district in which they live and vote, they are likely to cease supporting the district in bond issue and levy votes and school board elections.

A final argument against choice is that competition between districts would lead them to become more like each other.

Betty Hearnes is the Democratic candidate for the Missouri State Senate, District 27.