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Charter Schools Tag

While school choice is under fire in some states, Delaware continues to expand its charter school and school choice programs. The ability to choose where children go to school, irrespective of zip code helps to raise the education bar and provides opportunities those in lower income locals would never receive otherwise. Delaware is an example of a choice-friendly state where one third of public school-attending children take advantage of choice opportunities. Once again, they're opening up applications for those wishing to participate in school choice or charter school initiatives.

The school choice fight rages on in Georgia. On the ballot this year is a constitutional amendment that would create a statewide "Opportunity School District". In 2012, Georgia passed an amendment creating its charter school program. Opportunity School District (OSD) is one of the last remaining pieces of Georgia Governor Deal's education reform initiative. Its function? To assist in the turnaround of failing schools. According to the proposal's official site, OSD is, "ased on similar, successful initiatives in Louisiana and Tennessee," and, "would authorize the state to temporarily step in to assist chronically failing public schools and rescue children languishing in them."

Hillary Clinton has changed her mind on the trade deal and gay marriage, but she's not finished flip flopping. During her husband's presidency, Hillary Clinton was a big fan of charter schools. Now that she's seeking the presidency herself, things have changed. Kimberly Hefling reports at Politico:
Hillary Clinton rebukes charter schools Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton sounded less like a decades-long supporter of charter schools over the weekend and more like a teachers union president when she argued that most of these schools “don’t take the hardest-to-teach kids, or, if they do, they don’t keep them.” Her comments in South Carolina came straight from charter school critics’ playbook and distanced her from the legacies of her husband, former President Bill Clinton — credited with creating a federal stream of money to launch charters around the country — and President Barack Obama, whose administration has dangled federal incentives to push states to become more charter friendly.

The latest series of polling data suggests that support for school choice in America is on the rise. A 2013 Luntz Global Public Opinion Survey (via National School Choice Week) showed that a majority of Americans fully support having more flexibility and more choice in their child's education:
  • Public support for school choice is growing. 73 percent of Americans support school choice, compared with 67 percent in 2010.
  • Parents want more education options for their children. 64 percent of parents said that, “if given the financial opportunity” they would send one or all of their children to a different school.
  • Parents don’t feel they have enough options. 64 percent of parents agreed with the statement: “when it comes to the options to educate my children the way I want them educated, I have wanted more options for my children’s education.”
The Franklin Center recently released a new video touting their support of school choice and charter schools. Check it out here: If we want to address the problem with public schools in America, we need to get over the idea that there's a one-size fits-all solution to improving our education system.