The main problem with the limited experiments in public school choice being undertaken across the country is precisely that they are treated as limited experiments: a small sideshow to the continuing spotlight on traditional public schools. In its 1997 book, Building the Bridge: 10 Big Ideas to Transform America, the Progressive Policy Institute called for a more radical initiative in public school choice: charter districts. The basic idea is to think of public school authorities as purchasers and evaluators of public education rather than operators of schools. Under the charter district model, those operating public schools -- whether they were public or private entities -- would serve as contractors held accountable for meeting agreed-upon standards of educational performance.

Signs are beginning to emerge that this more extensive view of charter schools -- as the rule rather than as the exception -- is catching on. In that cauldron of debate over school reform, Milwaukee, the charter school movement appears poised to take off. Aware that the Milwaukee public school board had authorized a grand total of one charter school under the existing legislation, the Wisconsin legislature passed a bill giving the Common Council (as the city council is called in Milwaukee), the local state university, and the area's technical college the right to create charter schools as well. Working closely with New Democrat Mayor John Norquist, the Common Council has moved quickly to create a system for approving charter schools, which are expected to begin operations in the next school year. In the second year, all limits on the number of charter schools or the percentage of Milwaukee students that can be enrolled in them will be eliminated.

Keep in mind that the Wisconsin legislature has already authorized a voucher program in Milwaukee, in which private schools can receive public funds to educate kids from low-income families in exchange for non-discrimination policies and an annual audit (the program has been at least temporarily stalled by lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of vouchers for religious schools). Within a few years, many Milwaukee students and parents may have full choice among three city-wide systems: traditional public schools (in which parents already have extensive rights to choose a particular school subject to space limitations), vouchers for private schools, and city-sponsored charter schools. Aside from the stimulative value of this kind of direct three-way competition, the Milwaukee experiment may produce a breakthrough in how we think about the relationship of choice and accountability in public education, making it clear that results are what we seek to buy with public education dollars, not a particular model of school governance. We think it should become clear that "charter districts" offer as much choice and competition as a private-school voucher system, but with much greater accountability for educational results.

Here's hoping that Milwaukee's big experiment with public and private school choice will quickly lead to an experiment with a big idea: charter districts, where choice and accountability go hand in hand.