In one Iowa city, public schools compete in the free market. Are students better off?

在一座爱荷华城市,公立学校在自由市场中展开竞争。学生是否因此而受益?

Up First

2026-04-19

31 分钟
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Public education used to enjoy strong bipartisan support, but across the country, there’s a growing push to offer students alternatives to traditional public schools. The idea behind “school choice” is that competition improves education. President Trump and Republicans have attacked public education for failing students and for being too “woke,” while Democrats who strongly oppose school choice often dismiss valid criticism of public schools. Today on The Sunday Story, NPR education correspondent Cory Turner travels to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to understand how school choice can change a city's education landscape. Are students better served when schools compete in a free market? You can find more of Cory's reporting from Cedar Rapids here. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences. NPR Privacy Policy
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  • I'm Aisha Roscoe, and this is the Sunday Story from Up First.

  • This week, school choice.

  • Those two words cover all kinds of programs that are meant to let parents choose to send their child to a school other

  • than their neighborhood public school.

  • Maybe it's to another public school or a public charter school or even a private school.

  • In the U.S. School choice is often politically charged and even emotional.

  • I hate to even say that I would consider it,

  • but I think I represent a lot of families that if we 're not looking at the best situation for our kids,

  • we 're going to move our kid to a private school.

  • I don't want to do that.

  • Today on the Sunday Story, NPR education correspondent Corey Turner takes us to Cedar Rapids,

  • Iowa, a city swimming in choice, to understand what increased school choice

  • really looks like for parents who want the best for their kids.

  • Corey joins us now.

  • Welcome.

  • Thanks for having me, Aisha.

  • Corey, school choice is this idea that covers such a wide range of programs and policies.

  • Can you walk us through the basics?

  • Yeah, you bet.

  • So think of school choice as a spectrum, right?