I think a lot of the policy makers, experts and officials out there don’t get how little patience a little kid like me has. (Or maybe they just don’t care.) But there’s only so many hours I can spend playing Legos, or running around the house screaming and getting on my parents’ nerves, without knowing the details of what’s going to happen with Douglas County School District’s groundbreaking private school choice idea.

The last news we heard, my Education Policy Center friends reported on the GoBash blog back in early December. That was right after the DCSD board unanimously adopted a resolution to increase parental choice. A few weeks before that, I told you about the public debate and shared informative arguments in favor of the school choice proposal.

At last, today the Denver Post is reporting that district officials have released their first draft including details about their groundbreaking private school choice program (known as the Option Certificate Program):

The Douglas County School District on Tuesday night unveiled a draft of a pilot program for vouchers that calls for up to 500 students participating in the 2011-12 school year.

The plan, which would be reviewed yearly, would also increase the number of private schools that could teach Douglas students by expanding to include schools up to 10 miles outside county boundaries.

Sounds like a good start. Of course, there are a lot of other details to consider. This week especially the district is taking feedback from community members. More information is available on DCSD’s School Choice Task Force webpage. I’m sure my Education Policy Center friends (two of whom served on the Task Force) and others will be chiming in to say what they like and what could be even better.