When Schools Compete, They Improve

In case anybody thinks that charter schools and parental choice programs don’t encourage urban districts to improve, here’s an article about Cleveland’s public school system. The Cleveland public schools are facing a significant amount of competition. This is their response:

He is pinning the district’s hopes for revival on niche offerings, like single-gender schools and two new high schools specializing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics.

Where have we heard about those niche offerings before? They sound a lot like specialized charter schools and private schools. Cleveland’s public schools could have given parents these options earlier, but they had no incentive to change until they began losing students to single-gender schools and science academies.

Maybe the expanding charters in St. Louis will trigger similar progress.