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NOTE: Please login to participate. Logging in allows you to access all functions and to see what's new since your last visit. DISCUSSION: NCLB Public School Choice RequirementsCOMMENT: Charters as a "Traditional" ChoiceSubmitted by Dianne Piche
Luis, you ask a very good question. There has been a lot written about charters, though one should be careful to scrutinize the sources for possible bias, as one would normally do with other policy research. Nonetheless, there is ample evidence of the following: 1) some charter schools do work and work very well, 2) other charter schools are not working and some have been or will need to be terminated or radically improved by the chartering agencies, 3) accountability is as important (perhaps more so) as for "regular" public schools, 4) many, many parents, particularly parents in poor urban neighborhoods, are hungry for a better education for their children than their neighborhood public school has provided. They want and are choosing charter schools, magnet schools, and private schools (when feasible) for their children. This is a separate point and goes to the aspiration (in fact, I might go so far as to say the right) that virtually all parents have to make sure their child is well-educated, and 5) charters offer an opportunity for dedicated and creative educators and other professionals to work in a school setting of their choice. These charter founders, teachers, and other adults in many cases would not be welcome, comfortable, or motivated to work in a regular public school setting. Re: my points 4 & 5, these could be very long discussions, but I do want to underscore that charters and other forms of school choice are here to stay, and we might want to start talking about charters as part of the regular or "traditional" public system. Just like we now accept and include magnet programs and schools, despite some of their shortcomings.
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