PrintGood news, bad news on the Charter School front
The good news is that it appears the Obama administration is going to aggressively promote charter schools to the states.
The bad news is, they are going to use the threat of yanking federal stimulus funds to do it. This article on the Fox News website quotes Education Secretary Arne Duncan saying in response to a question about states putting a roadblock up with regard to Charter Schools, ""There are a number of states that are leading this effort, and we want to invest a huge amount of money into them, a minimum of $100 million, probably north of that," he said.
"And the states that don't have the stomach or the political will, unfortunately, they're going to lose out," Duncan said.
The money Duncan is talking about is not chump change. "North of $100 million" for each state. Ed Lasky points out:
Good: promote charter schools, especially considering the DC move. Bad-they are threatening to use stimulus money to coerce states. Of course, federal money often has conditions placed upon its receipt (highway funds and traffic laws)
Ed's right but the idea of using stim dollars still troubles me. Denying highway funds to states who don't raise the drinking age to 21 is one thing. That's a public safety issue. But this smacks of federal intervention on a scale that should make 10th Amendment advocates a little uncomfortable, regardless of the cause.
