The last time I wrote about "sector agnosticism" (in a post about Denver), I got lots of supportive emails. The concept is simple and seems to resonate with people: stop focusing on and fighting about who runs a school (i.e. traditional public school district, charter operator, private school operator), and just get as many kids as possible in the best schools from each sector.
It looks like this approach may be catching on. A new coalition designed to drastically improve K-12 education in Detroit is following this path. Called Excellent Schools Detroit, this broad organization plans to invest vast sums of money and energy in overhauling schooling in the city: closing failing schools, opening new schools, and providing a wide array of services (the Free Press writes it up here).
But rather than just dumping more funding into the broken traditional school district, listen to how they frame the issue in their introductory document:
This is a citywide plan to help all children, whether they happen to??attend a traditional public school, public charter school, or an independent school. Every Detroit child should??be attending an excellent school.
And in a FAQs section on the website:
Are you dealing only with Detroit Public Schools?
No. The plan addresses the needs of all school children in Detroit, whether they choose DPS, one of the more than 70 public charter schools, or the many independent schools now operating in the city.
This is music to my ears: the quality of a school matters infinitely more than its sector. Get disadvantaged kids in great schools now.
--Andy Smarick