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
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Slides, summaries, references, and transcripts of my podcasts: https://tomn.substack.com/p/podcast-summaries
My Linktree: https://linktr.ee/tomanelson1
