Michael Horn argues that state accreditation requirements for K-12 schools block innovation and family choice. Florida lets ESA dollars flow to unaccredited schools, spurring rapid growth in options. Some accreditors are testing faster pathways, but Horn warns they could create new problems.
Here's the irony. In Washington, D.C. right now, federal policymakers are pushing to lower barriers in higher ed. But in the states where lawmakers are passing education savings accounts, increasingly they are raising the barriers for new entrants. In K12, the new favorite rule, schools must be accredited before parents can use those ESA dollars. Now I get it. It might sound like a good idea, except for this. Accreditation was never built as a quality control tool. It was meant for continuous improvement against a mission. And in practice, it often protects existing schools and creates piles of red tape for the ones that are trying to start up. So it basically blocks innovative startups from ever getting off the ground. Now look, states like Florida, they don't require accreditation for families to use ESA dollars. And in those places like Florida, they've seen explosive growth in new options for families. If we want real innovation, we don't need rules that block out fresh ideas. Fortunately, there is some good news. Accreditors, like middle states, are stepping up to create novel ways of getting schools accredited quickly. So that's the good news. But there are a lot of ways that this could go wrong.
