School choice works

Expanding school choice gives parents more reason to get involved in their children's education. Charleston Development Academy, a small charter school in downtown Charleston, has clearly tapped into that motivating force.

Entering its fifth year serving about 100 kindergarten and elementary-school students from high-poverty families, it has earned a $100,000 grant from the S.C. Department of Education as a reward for significant gains in parental involvement, financial stability and sustainability. As Wednesday's Post and Courier reported, the school is using some of that money to produce a documentary film that should help other schools emulate its success.

Principal Cecelia Rogers told our reporter: "We truly believe we have a story to tell." She added: "We've been able to dispel the myth that children of the poverty level of a housing authority community can't learn (the state) standards and make the expected annual gains. We worked to do it in five years and did it in four."

The academy upgraded its previous two years' ratings of "unsatisfactory" and "below average" to "average" last year. That progress offers evidence of the positive power of school choice within the public education system.

The debate about using public money for vouchers at private schools tends to dominate the school choice issue. Yet vouchers are merely one means of expanding choice.

Educational choice also is enhanced within the public system by charter schools, magnet schools and transfer policies that allow students stuck in long-struggling schools to move to schools delivering much better academic results.

That's why there's a waiting list for enrollment at Charleston Development School. And that's why we should facilitate the creation of more charter schools that elevate parental interest in public education — and elevate classroom results.