A Contest Without Winners: How Students Experience Competitive School Choice

FEATURING KATE PHILLIPPO – The debate over public schools and education policy can get really contentious. Most Americans disagree on how best to run a public school system, arguing over traditional schools versus charter schools, and with terms like “school choice” being bandied about.

Today we’ll examine a specific type of school system in Chicago – a city where ninth graders can apply to the high school of their choice – just like they might for public universities.

Does this system work? How does it impact the very people who are supposed to benefit, namely students?

Kate Phillippo, Associate Professor of cultural and educational policy studies at Loyola University Chicago School of Education, author of Advisory in Urban High Schools: A Study of Expanded Teacher Roles and A Contest Without Winners: How Students Experience Competitive School Choice.