This week in school choice: Following storylines

On the Catholic School renaissance…

Pope Francis visits Catholic schools in the U.S., putting a spotlight on the fact that Catholic schools are making a comeback. USA Today highlights the role of innovation. More from PBS NewsHour and The Hechinger Report. One reason this matters: Catholic schools have a long history of serving disadvantaged students well.

See our past writing on the Catholic school renaissance in Florida here and here. Coming Monday: A rural Catholic school makes a remarkable turnaround.

On the year of school choice…

It might be more apt to call this the year of educational choice. The fact remains: More states have created or expanded private school choice programs this year than ever before. Education savings accounts are a big part of the picture.

Meanwhile…

The Los Angeles Times reveals more details of a plan that could eventually enroll nearly half of all L.A. public-school students in charter schools. See more discussion here on NPR, more on the pushback against the idea here, and a case for skepticism here.

A New Hampshire district prepares for a fight over a local private school choice program.

Dual enrollment courses are at risk in Minnesota.

North Carolina lawmakers propose more funding for charter schools.

Virtual schools grow, in Florida and elsewhere. What’s known about their effectiveness?

ICYMI, this week on redefinED

School choice and sheer bad luck

How charter schools affect school districts

Debating multiple charter school authorizers

It’s time for educators to rethink collective bargaining

Tweet of the week

Quote of the week

I’m not going to embarrass myself or my family. The school won’t open if we can’t deliver.

– Christian Dickinson, leader of Grace Academy, a private Christian school looking to open a charter school.

Help us make sure we can deliver. Send tips, links, suggestions or criticism to tpillow[at]sufs[dot]org.


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BY Travis Pillow

Travis Pillow is senior director of thought leadership and growth at Step Up For Students. He lives in Sanford, Florida, with his wife and two children. A former Tallahassee statehouse reporter, he most recently worked at the Center on Reinventing Public Education, a research organization at Arizona State University, where he studied community-led learning innovation and school systems' responses to the Covid-19 pandemic. He can be reached at tpillow (at) sufs.org.

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