When School Choice Doesn't Work

My column today at WHYY's Newsworks looks at private school choice run amok in Lakewood, NJ:
What happens when unregulated special interests control public budget allocations? No, I'm not talking about the GOP Tea Party-ists shutting down the federal government. Instead, let's look at Lakewood Public Schools.

The Ocean County school district is broke, a $4 million hole in its $107 million operating budget, reported the Asbury Park Press this week. Lakewood will apply to the state for relief because of an imbalanced and inequitable system of private school choice. It's laissez-faire capitalism run amok and the victims are the kids who can't choose.
Read the rest here.