Charter Schools in the UK?

by Collin Hitt The UK is considering a new policy modeled after charter schools in America.  Called “free schools,” the proposal has been endorsed by Arne Duncan in advance of his visit to the country this week.  A story in today’s London Telegraph framed the issue well, and quoted yours truly: For Mr Gove, the...

by Collin Hitt

The UK is considering a new policy modeled after charter schools in America.  Called “free schools,” the proposal has been endorsed by Arne Duncan in advance of his visit to the country this week.  A story in today’s London Telegraph framed the issue well, and quoted yours truly:

For Mr Gove, the visit, which will include a visit to Mossbourne Academy in London on Wednesday, is a chance to show doubters that across the pond their kindred spirits in the Democratic Party and the White House strongly favour the sort of reform that the Conservative Education Secretary is proposing. As director of education in his home state of Illinois from 2001 to 2008, Mr Duncan vigorously supported charter schools.
“It is interesting that in England the charter school movement is being called ‘free schools’, because that is what it is all about here,” says Collin Hitt, director of education policy at the Illinois Policy Institute. “It’s about the freedom to choose and to innovate. The basic value of charter schools is they provide a choice for parents to gain something better than what they have been getting. Schools can create vastly different paths, in terms of things like instruction, the organising of the school day and discipline, but are nonetheless aimed at the same end of an improved education.”

The whole thing is worth a read. It’s not often that Pres. Obama, charter schools, and “conservatives” all come out looking good – but that’s kind of the point of the story.