Remembering the tragedy that was Hurricane Katrina I can remember being an undergraduate at the University of Memphis. I can also remember some of the evacuees attending some of my classes as well. After a certain period of time, my undergrad institution allowed the evacuees to attend the school and be waived of out-of-state fees. That kind of goes in line with what Texas implemented as well.
I can agree with giving the parents the right to choose what school that their should attend and how schools should compete for funding by catering to the prospective students' and parents' needs. According to the National Center for Policy Analysis, (2005), for each student who enrolls the school should receive $7,500 in federal funds. Those funds would be in addition to the state and local funds and would go directly to the campus and not to the district.
Under these circumstances I can agree with freeing schools from regulations if they are admitting a large amount of evacuees. For instance, in the math and science fields I can agree with allowing those who were very successful in those fields to teach and have them go an alternate route with obtaining a teaching certification.
The analysis gave a brief description of allowing specialization in schools. For example, with Harrell Budd Elementary, the school has excelled with almost every type of student, but there are other schools that may only excel with certain types of students (fast learners, delayed learners, etc.). By having those schools specialize in a certain type of learner this could help those prospective students. (National Center for Policy Analysis, 2005)
I think that in theory that this is a good idea, but with the bureaucracy of school districts, it would prove to be difficult, because at the end of the day some schools would end up labeling and stigmatizing those students who have by calling them "at risk" or "behaviorally challenged". Instead of realizing that those children have been emotionally and mentally been affected by being displaced from the only place that they've considered as home and what they need is a stable safe haven which could be the schools.
Reference:
Goodman, J. (2005). Educating the Children of Katrina. National Center for Policy Analysis.
