In "Change Incentives to Improve Public Education" I suggested that thousands of children in the Detroit Public Schools fail to end up with the education that we wish for our own children.  This is true not just of Detroit Public Schools (DPS), but also of the public schools of all of the major cities in the US—Los Angeles, Atlanta, Baltimore, or any city we choose to pick. I also suggested the problem of education in our major cities is a not a case of spending too little, but rather the system itself needs to change.

In 1998 I engaged in an opinion-page debate in the Detroit News about the idea of Freedom Schools.  My suggestion was that individual schools within the Detroit Public Schools could separate from DPS and become independent schools.  If a super majority, say two-thirds, of the parents of the school, or the same super-majority of the teachers of the school voted to do so, the school would be declared a Freedom School, becoming an independent public school.

The per-pupil operating funds, essentially the foundation allowance, would then go directly to the individual school rather than to the school district headquarters. The school would be able to set its own curriculum, uniform policy, personnel policy, and any other policy that satisfied the state school code.  No child would be assigned to the school.  As with charter schools, the school would have to provide an education that is better than the alternatives in order to attract students. The teachers and parents would elect a board to administer the school and hire the principal. 

As I pointed out in that article, arguing that parents are not capable of electing a board or running a school is a red herring.  In 1920, one in 15 adults in Michigan was on a school board. The board could hire a management company to handle the regulations and general operation of the school. The building would remain the property of the school district; however, DPS would be required to rent the building at fair market value to the Freedom School.

There are a number of issues that would need to be resolved if the general idea of Freedom Schools is accepted.  Since the schools would only get funding if they attract students, the principal would need flexibility in hiring and firing teachers.  This might entail teachers in Freedom Schools having different tenure requirements.  Certainly Freedom Schools should be able to hire non-union teachers.  While this may seem anathema at first blush to unionized, tenured teachers, the best job tenure is being very good at what one does and being rewarded commensurately.   

Unlike the current system, teachers and principals who operate a school that attracts students will be rewarded with better salaries and better facilities, since the school operating funds will increase as the number of students increases, and will decline if the school fails to attract students, perhaps leading to a closing of the school. Quality teachers may prefer to be in a Freedom School for this very reason. 

The teacher-run school, Barbara Jordan Elementary School, just announced by DPS is a step in the direction of Freedom Schools.  Barbara Jordan Elementary will be a school without a principal, with teachers running the daily operations.  Teachers will have the ability to modify the curriculum and make purchases of supplies, and the school will be open only to those students whose parents choose the school. The problem with Barbara Jordon Elementary is that it does not go far enough in allowing teachers to operate their own school.  If they choose to hire a principal to handle administrative decisions, they should be able to do that, and the school should receive its foundation allowance directly from the state.

The Detroit News quoted one of the teachers of Barbara Jordan as saying: “Teachers here do not fear accountability.” The News reported that some teachers have even offered to surrender tenure in return for being able to run their school.  This is the attitude that will lead to success for both Barbara Jordan and its students.  Since my 1998 Detroit News article, DPS has gone from 175,000 students to less than 90,000, with a high-school graduation rate of 37 percent.  The time has come to allow all teachers willing to accept accountability to truly run their own schools.

This article originally appeared in The Michigan View  (http://themichiganview.com) on July 24, 2010.