Regarding last week’s Gadfly editorial (“It’s all about the authorizers,” May 4), I'm still fuzzy on why authorizers should close popular, legally operating charter schools. The abysmal state of traditional public schools often makes even mediocre charter schools choice-worthy. In those surroundings, a charter school can perform poorly and still be the best bet. Why is it helpful to shut down such a school? It just forces the children into even worse traditional public schools. Often, those are the only choices offered by our system, and a mediocre school is better than an awful one. I say leave popular charter schools open; one hopes they’ll shut down when a better school opens. Overriding the market just makes a bad situation worse.
John Merrifield
Professor of Economics, University of Texas at San Antonio
