Quote Originally Posted by Wesley Mouch View Post
Measuring quality is very difficult. Thus, its a job best done by the consumers -- not by bureaucrats. Yeah, that of course is mostly opinion. Don't see that we get any decent, objective measurements of school quality -- what with all the politics involved.

What evidence do you have that non-profit alternative schools do better than for-profit?

Yes, there certainly is a segment of profit-seeking, low-quality higher education. But what troubles me about your comments to my post is the suggestion that things are just fine as the are. For that, I've never seen evidence. Were things really that great when the school boards had a monopoly? Do we really think a return to that monopoly would serve children best?
First, I didn't suggest things are fine as they are. I suggested that for-profit schools aren't helping much. There is nothing about saying that a suggested solution to a problem is not likely to work that implies that a solution wouldn't be desirable.

Second, the fact that for-profit schools at the post-secondary level are a disaster is well-documented. This might be an indication that this approach isn't a great one for education.

Third, there are only a few K-12 charter-type schools that have been shown to both work better than public schools for poor/minority communities, and to be replicable. Those are all, to my knowledge, non-profit.