Microschools and Decentralization

There has been a lot of discussion by school choice advocates about the microschool movement and one term that continues to be used is “decentralization”. This concept is so important and used so frequently, I wanted to write something that describes what it means to be decentralized, why people are so enthusiastic about it, and how it sets the microschool sector up to be resilient and grow over the long term. 

Traditional school systems rely on decisions made by one central entity - for example, boards and superintendents - that make top-down decisions for students and families. That’s not because traditional schools don’t want the input of students and families, it’s just simply not possible for large bureaucracies to consult and respond to all of their disparate demands.  

In contrast, microschool operators are small and market-driven meaning they have both the capacity and the incentive to make decisions in response to the needs of students and families. Time and time again this type of decentralization has resulted in emergent order that is superior to what a central planner, like a school district, can design or create. A common example of planned decision-making versus decentralized decision-making is the planned walkway. 

Microschool: Building A Path For Students

The designed walkway above was centrally planned. The diagonal, dirt path is an example of decentralized decision-making. No one planned to put it there; it was created by hundreds of individual decisions. 

There are a lot of families out there who want a dirt path for their students, and now there are microschool operators out there who are building them.  

But an education system is more complex than a walkway. Decisions about a child’s education require more information than a decision about where to walk. That’s a case for more decentralization, not less. Shortly after the adoption of the internet, Wikipedia was able to create a more accurate and updated information catalog than any encyclopedia. Wikipedia did not use a central team of writers to create their content but instead used decentralized inputs from thousands of volunteer writers from all over the world. 

Decentralized Systems: Unique Experiences for Children

Decentralized systems are especially important when a large population has a diversity of opinions. A diversity of needs, values, and wants are difficult for a central team to plan for. Families today are looking for unique experiences for their children and they don’t share all of the same values when it comes to education. Some parents want lots of free play and some want high standardized test scores. But we can have a system that meets both of those demands and every type of nuanced model in between. 

So why hasn’t a marketplace emerged for microschools up to this point? Why is now the time for decentralized microschools? I think there are three main reasons for this. 

1. Up until relatively recently what school should be was largely agreed upon by the vast majority of the population.

   There has not been significant demand for more unique models (although some of course do exist). 

2. Recent advances in technology have made homeschooling and microschools a more realistic and cost-effective endeavor.

   Advances in video conferencing and technology now allow for students to take a class or tutoring session from anywhere. That means all the instruction that happens at a microschool doesn’t necessarily have to be delivered by the in-person operators. The advancement and diversity of digital curricula also make it significantly easier for a microschool operator to not have their own creation of all of the content students work on. 

3. People are not used to paying out of pocket for education.

   Of course, many families opt for private schools, but the plethora of states that now allow public dollars to be spent on private education through Education Savings Accounts opens this option up to a significant portion of the population. 

Still, we are at a critical juncture.

While there is growing interest in the microschool movement there is no guarantee it will continue. For most families today the traditional education system is familiar and safe. If you don’t have strong objections or value disagreement with what is happening there you don’t have a strong reason to leave. That’s why most microschools are designed to serve customers who don’t share the same values, whose children have been underserved, neglected, or discriminated against, or who want something drastically different. 

If it does continue to grow, even by small amounts at first, the growth will compound. As more people enter the market and seek out microschool options, the system gets more inputs and becomes more responsive to what families want. As entrepreneurial-minded educators see opportunities to serve a community, more of them will take a swing at starting a microschool. Options will continue to expand, and microschools will move from the edge cases to serving more mainstream customers. There will be microschools designed for families who want something similar to what the traditional school sector offers, but perhaps a bit more personalized, less time in school, more rigorous, more outdoor time, or more of a focus on a craft or skill. This snowball effect is what will make the sector become resilient, stable, and familiar to everyone. 

Microschool Operators: Building A Fanbase in the Community

When I think about microschools I am reminded of Kevin Kelly’s article in 2008 “1000 True Fans” where he predicts the rise of platforms like Substack, Kickstarter, and Etsy: “To be a successful creator you don’t need millions. You don’t need millions of dollars or millions of customers, millions of clients, or millions of fans. To make a living as a craftsperson, photographer, musician, designer, author, animator, app maker, entrepreneur, or inventor you need only thousands of true fans.”

To be a viable microschool operator, you don’t even need 1000 true fans. Depending on your model you may only need 10 - 20 who are local to your community. 

Ultimately, decentralized systems come down to individual choices. Builders need to build and individual consumers need to choose to seek out alternative options. If both of those things happen simultaneously, a new system of diverse, personalized choices will emerge. To that end, as inspiration for anyone considering launching a microschool, I will close with a quote from Kevin Kelly’s article:

“1,000 true fans is an alternative path to success other than stardom. Instead of trying to reach the narrow and unlikely peaks of platinum bestseller hits, blockbusters, and celebrity status, you can aim for direct connection with a thousand true fans. On your way, no matter how many fans you actually succeed in gaining, you’ll be surrounded not by faddish infatuation, but by genuine and true appreciation. It’s a much saner destiny to hope for. And you are much more likely to actually arrive there.”