Former superintendents call for public microschools, following lead of Christian private schools

Three former public school superintendents are making a bold call for public education to embrace microschools – something the private Christian school world has been doing for years.

Writing in The 74, Deborah A. Gist, Tom Vander Ark and Devin Vodicka propose public microschools as a solution to challenges such as shifting enrollment, student disengagement and the growing disconnect between traditional education and the skills needed in an AI-driven world.

“Public microschools offer a focused, actionable path forward in this era of uncertainty and opportunity,” they write. “These small, purpose-built, learning environments give public schools and their communities the power to design experiences that are deeply personalized, flexible, and malleable without waiting for entire systems to shift. They can serve students, empower educators, and address community needs.”

The superintendents, who are active in three separate microschools, have created a Public Microschool Playbook to encourage others to follow their lead. But in doing so they are following private Christian schools, where hybrid and microschools have seen significant growth since COVID-19.

In the article, the superintendents write that public microschools “are a turning point and an invitation to broadly reimagine how we design for relevance and responsiveness inside public systems. They can restore the connection between what students need and what schools provide to transform how we deliver on the promise of public education.” 

In an admission that many students – and teachers – feel lost in today’s systems, they call these smaller schools “places where educators rediscover purpose, students go from feeling invisible to being known, families are empowered, and communities are connected.” 

Public microschools can work in urban, rural and suburban settings, they say, while providing examples of successful microschools in each setting. They explain how innovative districts are using microschools to serve specific populations and to offer customized experiences. 

A San Diego County school district saw out-of-school suspensions drop substantially and attendance and test scores increase, pointing to microschools’ potential. 

A rural North Carolina microschool of 30 students helped inspire broader changes across the school district, impacting hundreds of students. 

“Demand is growing for resources to support the creation of public microschools like these,” the authors write. “Microschools offer a realistic and hopeful path forward. 

“System leaders recognize the need to transform how learning happens, but they’re also navigating constraints that can make wholesale change feel out of reach. Public microschools meet this moment by making it possible to start small, stay grounded in community needs, and move more rapidly toward meaningful, learner-centered innovation.” 

Kerry McDonald, a senior education fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education who has written on hybrid and microschools, suggested these superintendents are responding to “competitive pressures” created by school choice, which is good for education overall. 

“Since 2020, the demand for creative schooling options such as microschools has skyrocketed as parents seek greater flexibility and personalization in their children’s education,” she told The Lion in an email. “The growth of these new, low-cost schools has occurred nationwide, but it is particularly strong in states with robust school-choice programs that enable education funding to follow students.  

“It should come as no surprise that as families enjoy more education options and greater access to these options, some of them will leave public schools for innovative alternatives. It’s great to see public schools starting to respond to these competitive pressures by introducing public microschools within their districts in an effort to attract and retain families.” 

Perhaps now, with funding struggles and declining enrollments in many public schools, educators who want to remain in the system will finally “advocate for public microschools and similar learning models,” McDonald said. 

Eric Wearne, director of the National Hybrid Schools Project at Kennesaw State University in Georgia, agreed. 

“Public microschools and hybrid schools can work,” he told The Lion by email. “If the public sector can figure out how to create lots of smaller schools, with lots of very different curricular and pedagogical approaches, and can accept that not every one of those will work for every student, then they may have a chance.”