School Choice Meets Rural Superintendents

A couple of weeks back I wrote about the problems that I could see when trying to bring school choice to rural areas, a post that was picked up and commented on by the folks over at EdSpresso. In the new issue of Education Week there’s a great article about how the choice movement is running into trouble in some states due to opposition from rural, and often Republican, superintendents. From the article ($):

In their quest to bring more private school options to parents, school choice advocates say they’ve run into a formidable and unexpected opponent: the rural school superintendent.

Private school choice—whether it comes in the form of vouchers, tax credits, or some other policy option—is becoming less of a Republican-vs.-Democrat issue, in which party affiliation tends to determine the level of state support for the issue, some experts say. Instead, they explain, school choice is increasingly becoming a rural-vs.-urban issue, with geography mattering more than political leaning.

.........

In those and some other states, choice proponents say, their biggest hurdle isn’t overcoming the teachers’ unions, which are traditionally powerful and vocal opponents of private school choice. “The states where we have strong Republican dominance and yet we’ve come up empty have a common denominator: a very strong influence by rural school superintendents,” Mr. Bolick said.

.........

Advocates are working to convince rural residents that their tax dollars are supporting a system of general education, and that failing urban schools cost all taxpayers in the state. School choice proponents say they also need to reach out to rural Republican legislators, who are often influenced by their local superintendents.

Later on there’s a quote that bothered me, from Clint Bollick of the Alliance for School Choice:

“These should be great states for us. But the rural superintendents have been the bane of our existence,” he continued. “We underestimated their power. Now we’re adjusting our playbook.”

Bane? Playbook? Are you starting new schools or fighting off the Huns?