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"If you rail against common standards and push schools into the private realm, then you're robbing people of the valid information they need to make good choices in the first place."

I don't see where this would be the case at all. "Valid" information is in the eye of the beholder, isn't it? Isn't it just as "valid" to make school choices based on things like neighbourhood demographics and real estate resale value? That's what most people do when they go to their local realtor to purchase a home (and thereby, choose schools for their children).

I was not able to read the article (subscribers only!). It seems as though you posit that school choice should be available, but only in such a way that no schools ever be negatively impacted or have to change to keep students and their families happy. Sometimes there is just no way to do so. Some of my good friends would never send their children to a public school because it does not teach according to their worldview.

I think that's a "valid" choice as well. :)

Mrs. C--Of course that's valid. People can always take their children to private schools, or they can homeschool them. And you know that I believe in measures of quality other than test scores. And there can even be robust public school choice in a standards-based system: Multiple pathways to similar destinations....

But the folks over at the WSJ are arguing that choice, pure choice, will make all schools academically excellent and, presumably, competitive with all those shining schools in Finland. They assert this after claiming that there is no evidence for the value of national standards. And where is THEIR evidence, pray tell? Their sublime confidence is a bit strange, all things considers.

People keep using the word "choice", but I find a major flaw in using this word so loosely.
In more affluent neighborhoods, parents have many choices. There are charter schools, private schools, homeschooling (possible because parents in these communities are generally better educated), and public schools. Incidentally, these neighborhoods generally have better public school because of parental voice and involvement, they rally to remove bad administrators/teachers or to add desired programs.
In neighborhoods similar to where I teach, those "choices" are anything but choice. Parents in poorer neighborhoods can't afford public schools. There are many functionally illiterate parents who cannnot homeschool their children. The charter schools are often comparable to the public schools (because let us not forget that charters essentially ARE public schools), which brings us back to public schools.
Largely, these are the red flagged schools that are failing students. And despite all the finger pointing, there is no one thing to blame for this widespread failure.
At home the students are likely to have parents who are unable to assist them with homework if they are lucky enough to have parents who aren't working double shifts to make ends meet or lucky enough to not reside in foster care. The teachers have their hands tied with scripted programs that defy all logic by assuming that everyone learns the same way. Administrators are bound by more administration adding new mandates daily to change the results without changing methods or funding.
By the way, I teach in a lower middle class urban neighborhood. Urban poor and urban rural areas generally fare worse than my school.
So where is the choice for those who work two jobs (if lucky enough to be employed), struggling to make ends meet but wanting to give their children a better future?
Let's revisit the word 'choice' when the poorest in our society are actually given options.

KinderTeacher, your pointn is very well taken. Choice advocates say, often with real justifcation, that low-income parents do not have the option to choose the kind of school environment they want for their children. Often their choice is between a struggling school and, if they're lucky, an alternative school that is struggling a bit less. But the pressure of dead-end jobs, little or no health care, crime, income instability, housing instability and so many other forces restrict their choices. Stronger ties between schools, their communities, and other resources for children--that should be an important element of any choice agenda.

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Sarah Silverman - "I was going to get an abortion the other day. I totally wanted an abortion. And it turns out I was just thirsty."