In DeVos’ Home State, “School Choice” Is Becoming Code for “Segregation”
The proliferation of Michigan’s charter schools offers a cautionary tale for the education secretary’s public school vision.
In The News Piece in Bright
Gage Skidmore / CC2.0
March 10, 2017
Elena Silva was quoted by Bright in an article on the de facto segregation which has arisen from the proliferation of charter schools in Secretary DeVos' home state of Michigan:
But education policy experts like Elena Silva, of the nonpartisan think tank New America, based in Washington, D.C., see the prospect of mass movement of Title I money as one of the least likely outcomes. “The idea of unlocking Title I money so it ‘follows the child’ sounds simple and appealing,” she said. “The problem is that it’s very complicated to do and doesn’t have the broad base of support you’d need to do it. I anticipate that it will be pushed as a proposal. But it’s such a huge pot of money that it will garner a lot of attention.”
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Expansion of existing 529 college savings accounts to cover K-12 education is another area, along with a push for federal tax credits for contributions aiding private school scholarships, that Silva sees as possible under a DeVos/Trump administration. “These are smaller programs that will attract less debate. And,” she concludes, “you can’t discount the president’s bully pulpit which can embolden efforts at the state level.”