It's all about choice

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/

Using a novel interpretation of Colorado’s charter-school law, Douglas County set up a virtual “charter school” by giving students vouchers worth 75 percent of the state’s per-pupil funding to take to any school of their choice. The ACLU sued over the program, and while the district triumphed in appellate court, the program remains on pause while Douglas County awaits a date with the Colorado Supreme Court. If the district prevails there, it will offer a voucher model that almost any school district could emulate.

An arrangement like this will stimulate the growth of a genuine educational market -- which is what's desperately needed  Let a thousand flowers bloom.

Hating the very thought of competition, the public school establishment will fight any idea like this to their last breath. Endlessly execrable systems, like the one in Washington, D.C, know perfectly well that in a competitive market they'd end up on the junk pile where they belong at something approaching light speed.

(The atrocious D.C. school system claims to spend $18,475 per student, highest in the nation, but this is widely reported to be a gross understatement, with the true amount nearly $30,000 per student:  http://www.cato.org/blog/census-bureau-confirms-dc-spends-29409-pupil )

Byron