AJE Feature | Brookings: Education Plus Development blog “Do cyber charter schools harm public education for the most disadvantaged?” by David Baker and Bryan Mann
This week Brookings published an Education Plus Development blog written by David Baker and Bryan Mann about their study, “Cyber Charter Schools and Growing Resource Inequality among Public Districts: Geospatial Patterns and Consequences of a Statewide Choice Policy in Pennsylvania, 2002–2014”, which was published in the American Journal of Education in February 2019.
The pandemic has changed the dynamic of online learning, at least for now. However, the financial models we built to support programs like cyber charter schools were not designed for the current situation. Policymakers must act now to make sure any existing advantages of online learning do not come at the cost of undermining the successful reopening and continued health of brick-and-mortar schools.
In the blog David and Bryan write: “Flat Rock School District (not its real name) in eastern Pennsylvania suffers from all the problems of exurban decay: Main streets and infrastructure need repair, many storefronts are boarded up, good jobs are scarce, and a web of social problems from alcohol and drug addiction to fragile families weighs heavy on the community. The community’s schools must cope with these problems while faced with one of the state’s lowest per-pupil funding levels. Flat Rock is also deep Donald Trump country, as the president won every voting precinct within the district, most by more than 30 percentage points.”
Read the entire Brookings Education Plus Development blog here
Read the American Journal of Education article here
Bryan Mann is an assistant professor in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies. He received his PhD in Educational Theory and Policy from the Pennsylvania State University. Dr. Mann’s research centers on issues of geography and educational policy. This work revolves around a few simple questions that have complex answers with profound implications: Where do children enroll in school and what drives these trends? What policy mechanisms help shape enrollment patterns so they enhance educational and social equity? These motivating questions have led Dr. Mann to conduct research across several areas of education policy, including enrollment patterns as they relate to segregation and diversity, school choice, and alternative models of education. Prior to joining the faculty at the University of Kansas, Dr. Mann was an assistant professor at the University of Alabama. He started his career as a high school English teacher in Monmouth County, New Jersey.