In a recent post in Time Andy Rotherham asks whether it may be the ?end times for public charter schools? and he cites a number of setbacks in the charter world to whet your doubting appetites. But before draping the coffin, read Daniela's take on Andy's argument about Rhode Island ? ?Rhode Island has been on a whirlwind track toward education reform over the past couple of years? ? and Jamie's putting Ohio's charter picture in perspective -- ??Rotherham grossly oversimplifies the experience in Ohio.?
I would like to add another view from the trenches: and would suggest that Washington policymakers take a deep breath and understand that, in the provinces, most people still don't know what a charter school is.? Sure, as Rotherham suggests, ?the term `charter school' is increasingly meaningless? ? inside the beltway, that is. Outside the beltway, the term ?charter school? has never been meaningful. The powerful teachers unions, in small districts and large, have so demonized charters for so long, have so hamstrung local reporters and their Chamber of Commerce publishers, that most people ? and most education journalists ?? still think of the appearance of charter schools on the scene as the education version of the invasion of the body-snatchers.
For those interested, here's how, thanks to John Merrow, the modern charter school movement was invented (see history of charters).
But I have found that once people understand the reason for charters, and their advantages over their traditional school brothers, there's no turning back. I lead a committee in my district to study the schools' academic performance and recall that, at the beginning, ?charters? were a big no-no.? Six months later, after 16 meetings, previously anti-charter folks were? convinced that charters were a viable alternative to traditional schools.? One formerly anti-charter parent blurted out at the end of the study sessions, ?We ought to turn all our schools into charters.?
The moral?? Before we end the times ? let's at least let people know what they entailed.
--Peter Meyer, Bernard Lee Schwartz Policy Fellow
