How "back to school" has changed in America

For over a century, the term "back to school" called up near-ritual: The familiar old line of students streaming through doors again into classrooms after summer break, their satchels full of new notebooks, their footsteps clattering off halls lined with chalkboards and lockers.

It was a rhythm that governed communities, economies, and family life, a temporal anchor around which the school year revolved. But it's all gone, disappeared quietly, irrevocably. School no longer has a single building, single calendar, or single pedagogy. It is in libraries and community centers, on electronic screens, in micro-learning centers, and in the very places where curiosity has room to spread.

The rigid, prescriptive, one-size-fits-all old beat has been replaced by a new one: One of choice, flexibility, and the unshakeable resolve of families who will not let tradition define the limitations of their children. In this new brave world, "back to school" is not going back; it is forward to a place where education is not about compliance but about possibility, about flexibility, and about promise of what each child can be.

Transition calendars

The peace of school calendars is past. Labor Day no longer is a hint about when a school year starts. Some schools extend instructional days and school years, and others employ rolling calendars or online semesters. The fragmentation of the school calendar is a sign of an even more profound intellectual change: Education no longer is controlled by tradition but by the needs of students and communities. Learning is adaptive, continuous, and tailored, lightyears from the assembly line days.

The age of choice

Perhaps the most revolutionary shift is who attends which school. Barely more than three-quarters of US students nowadays still retain the district-mandated public school, a whopping decline from almost 90% of previous generations, Forbes states. Parents are rushing to the charter schools, private scholarship schools, cyber schools, and microschools, creating an environment of alternatives to the long-time monopoly in education. These schools offer flexibility, imagination, and individualized learning experiences that allow parents to merge education with the child's talent, objectives, and method of learning.

The unequal bases of opportunity

Systematic inequalities exist even with increasing alternatives. Traditional district schools are supported by a combination of state and local taxes, but the great majority of choice programs have much smaller budgets and the additional cost of facilities. Charter and option schools typically receive a relatively small per-student amount compared to district competitors, limiting their capacity to expand or innovate. These inequalities not only restrict access but are also troublesome under the constitution because unequal spending literally denies families equal promise of an education under the constitution.

Policy and the promise of reform

The policy landscape is gradually changing to suit the needs of education for our times. State transformation and federal policies have increased scholarship accessibility and created new windows of opportunity. Legislation won't fill the gap, though. Actual change comes from diverting funds in place so that money follows the student and not the school. Properly implemented, these kinds of policies can maximize choice results, induce healthy competition, and drive innovation throughout the system.

The revolutionary potential of equity

Choice has introduced revolutionary gains even to collapsing systems. Alternative program students are more engaged, satisfied, and achievement-oriented, and traditional districts improve their offerings in response to competition. Imagine an entire system that is equitable where all students have access to services that they are entitled to, e.g., special learning needs students with disabilities or special students. Imagine a day when alternative schools and charters get equal facilities and operating budgets like district schools. The result would be a revolution: An education system focused on the student, not the bureaucracy. Back to school

The ceremony of returning to the same classroom one day is anachronistic.

Instead stands a living, student-focused vision of learning attuned to individual needs and free from tradition. Families have embraced this new reality; policymakers are now catching up. The challenge before us today is one of budget and policy alignment: that education must be equitable, accessible, and organized to reach the promise of each and every child. The "back to school" days are behind us. The "forward to education" days are here. Whether or not kids will succeed will depend upon whether or not leaders will get on board—or hold on to antiquated paradigms that keep kids fenced in.