School Choice – Residential “Bailout” Style

No, I’m not talking about stimulus money here. I’m talking about parents forced to go to rather extreme costs to “bail out” of a terribly under-performing school system – even if it means moving.

Such a “bailout” has been going on for years in Covington, Kentucky, home of the state’s worst performing school district. So many families have left that it’s now reported Covington may have to close several schools.

The Bluegrass Institute’s disappointment with the Covington Independent School System is no secret. We’ve written quite a lot about Kentucky’s lowest performing district on a number of occasions in places like here and here and here and here.

Obviously, we are not the only ones who are disappointed. But, isn’t it sad that Covington parents have to move to find decent schools. Why don’t they have good school alternatives right in Covington? Those alternatives could include some good charter schools – an alternative that is working elsewhere and that might finally spur Covington’s regular public schools into doing something effective to stem the loss of 1,000 students over the past decade – right in the middle of one of the fastest growing regions in the state.

Of course – looking on the bright side – when we finally get a serious charter school law in Kentucky, Covington will have empty real-estate available where we could set some up. Given Covington’s long history of poor performance, it would be a wonderful candidate for a charter.