The False Choice of School Choice

School choice has been heralded as a silver bullet in education reform, a means to offer low-income families the same ability that wealthy families have to pick their school when they cannot afford private school tuition or changing neighborhoods.  However, there is limited evidence that school choice, housing choice, or even forced school choice through the closures of low-performing schools, results in enhanced educational opportunities and outcomes for students.

 
Picking a school to enhance education is like picking a hospital to improve health.  While the macro-level decision may make a slight difference, the advantage gained from the ability to pick the doctor (or teacher) and to negotiate the diagnosis and treatment (or educational style and accommodation) is far greater.  Perhaps then, is it simply that there aren't enough schools to choose between?  However, once the number of options to choose between exceeds a certain threshold, analysis paralysis sets in.
 
In Annette Lareau's book, Home Advantage, a distinctly different view of the achievement gap is presented.  In her research, she shows that lower class parents differed from upper-middle class parents in their ability to negotiate the school culture, but also to evaluate schools and educational opportunities within the context pertinent to school's definition of success.  For example, a lower class parent and a middle upper class parent may both tutor (or provide tutors for) their child, but the middle upper class child is more likely to have their tutoring aligned with the school program, translating into greater educational profits.
 
Rather than focusing purely on school choice to enhance equality of educational opportunity for students, where parents and students suffer, and are blamed when they choice they make is not the 'right one,' policy makers should strive to increase communications between teachers with parents on their child's education.  These should include both performance information and concrete, realistic steps that parents can be take to monitor and supplement their children's education, even before starting school for the first time.
 
Image from: http://www.krankyscartoons.com/National_Clinton.htm