Show Notes
James Tooley describes two decades researching “low-cost private schools” serving poor families in India, Africa, rural China, and war-torn countries, arguing parents choose them because government/public schools often abandon children. He cites widespread enrollment (e.g., majorities in parts of Lagos and Kampala), higher standardized test performance, no gender bias, affordability around 10% of family spending, and sustainability as small businesses. He now finds a similar U.S. phenomenon in hybrid/micro schools, visiting examples in Pine Ridge (Onward Learning), rural Mississippi, refugee-serving Clarkston, and rural Oregon, and surveying 5,390 parents: about 4% use low-tuition private schools. He discusses limited, careful roles for philanthropy, and worries about dependence on government ESAs.
00:00 Meet James Tooley 01:03 Hyderabad Discovery 03:25 Government School Reality 05:37 Makoko Lagos Expedition 07:49 Kibera Ghana China Proof 11:49 Beautiful Tree Thesis 13:04 War Torn Africa Schools 15:48 Five Key Features 21:06 Federations And Pushback 22:02 Low Cost Schools In America 25:53 Pine Ridge Onward Learning 29:46 Mississippi Trailer School 33:19 Refugees And Oregon Example 36:08 National Survey Findings 41:45 Philanthropy And Donations 43:26 Quality Assurance Debate 46:33 School Choice ESA Concerns 49:57 Where To Follow James 50:46 Final Reflections
The Beautiful Tree: https://a.co/d/032zFHgW Really Good Schools: Global Lessons for High-Caliber, Low-Cost Education: https://a.co/d/01VMoY3r https://x.com/james_tooley https://uk.linkedin.com/in/james-tooley-320a8410 ========= Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1
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