The Internet has improved the public provision of services in a variety of ways and it is beginning to transform public education. The power of personal digital learning suggests that it doesn’t make sense to limit our children’s opportunity to learn to a local school or geographically defined school district.
In the 19th century, America developed an idiosyncratic system of public education based on local control. While federal and state governments have aggregated degrees of control, U.S. education is still largely a local issue—an unusual construct in the developed world. The growing potential of learning online requires us to rethink and revise how educational services are provisioned.
Digital Learning Now, the advocacy initiative chaired by former governors Jeb Bush and Bob Wise, released a video in which I try to make the case for multiple statewide providers of educational services. I know the video won’t be a YouTube favorite and that this won’t be my favorite column with my friends working in public school districts. Click here to read my complete post on this topic.
Click here to watch the video and please take time to comment so we can start a dialogue on this issue.
Extending educational options to the course level requires a new approach to school finance, one that is less dependent on local property taxes and is more need-based and performance-oriented (and a subject of future blogs). It will also require new strategies to ensure that every student receives a seamless web of support and, to the extent necessary, is plugged in to youth and family services in their community.
School districts will understandably oppose the idea of a multiple provider system but the opportunity to cost effectively improve services to students and families is worth pursuing.
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