This is a sad article. It is another example of why I have lost respect for the public school system and enrolled my daughter in a private school.
The behemoth National Education Association seeks to squash popular pandemic microschools.
www.wsj.com
Why is the elephant afraid of the mouse? Your child’s teacher may not know, but his union does. In September the National Education Association, America’s largest labor union, produced an internal “opposition report” on Prenda, a tiny Arizona-based “microschool” provider. I obtained a copy of the document, which picks apart Prenda’s vulnerabilities but also offers a warning: “The Opposition Report has documented widespread support for micro-schools.” Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is expected to receive a presentation about Prenda on Thursday at a charter school in Phoenix.
Midway between home schools and private schools, microschools bring together a small group of students, five to 10 a school at Prenda, usually at a private residence. Instruction is handled by an education-service provider like Prenda.
The company had been growing before the pandemic, but since February it has more than quadrupled the number of students it serves. After U.S. schools shut down or moved online, parents—one-third of them, according to a September EdChoice poll—joined with neighbors to form learning “pods.” A much smaller number withdrew from traditional school altogether. Today Prenda administers around 400 microschools educating more than 3,000 students, says chief executive Kelly Smith.
The NEA opposition report cites an expert who thinks microschools can “address some of the structural limitations of homeschooling,” such as parents’ work obligations, and—this is Prenda’s innovation—take advantage of school-choice programs to “alleviate some equity issues” posed by the cost of hiring your own teachers. The combination could make home education feasible for millions more families. (The NEA didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment.)....
.....It’s a strange pitch from the teachers union: Microschools are dangerous—they help their students learn more! This seems like a reason to broaden access, not restrict it. And that’s what Prenda has done by eliminating tuition: make microschools accessible to low-income families. The NEA report doesn’t address that point.
.....But the company says 92% of it, on average, goes to teachers, who earn 10% to 20% more than at their prior teaching positions.....