By Linda Jacobson

While the Martinsburg-based school ultimately served just eight students, the controversy raised larger questions nationwide about the expertise of those who start schools with public funds. Critics of such programs, known as education savings accounts, say there is a lack of sufficient oversight and that students suffer when programs abruptly close. But school choice supporters used the school’s failure to argue that market-based approaches like those in West Virginia work.

“This is the flashpoint for the conversation about what is accountability with education savings accounts,” said Michael Horn, co-founder of the Clayton Christensen Institute for Disruptive Innovation, a nonprofit think tank. He led a session on the topic at a conference in April and said drawing attention to problems and solutions will make programs better.

Image Credit:Kaela Zimmerman / https://www.the74million.org/article/microschool-west-virginia-barred-state-ed-program/