In a recent visit to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, BFT met with Jaime Story. Jaime is an Education Policy Analyst at the Foundation and in discussing issues, she mentioned an article she wrote which fits in very nicely here. BFT encourages everyone to read the entire article: Houston students benefit from district's embrace of competition.
Ms. Story wrote:
"While the public school lobby has traditionally opposed any introduction of competition into the education system, the state's largest school district seems to have embraced it."
She goes on to discuss how the Houston ISD has embraced competition. Now one can argue whether any Texas school district can say it is succeeding, but her point about Houston at least trying to be innovative and embracing of a competitive model is a good one.
"What are the results of this movement toward choice? In 2005, HISD had 31 campuses rated unacceptable, and only six rated exemplary. In 2007, the district had 15 of each. For its size, Houston has half as many unacceptable schools as either Fort Worth or Dallas, and fewer even than Austin, a property-rich district. "
"It is no coincidence that HISD, with its significant charter competition, is one of the most innovative urban districts in the country. "
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