RALPH BAILEY: On charter schools, educators missing the big picture
| Saturday, Dec 18 2010 12:00 PM
Last Updated Saturday, Dec 18 2010 12:00 PM
We're considered to be one of the "dumbest" counties in the state, with graduation and dropout rates that would make "The Dead End Kids" look like Rhodes scholars and still many educators remain blind to the goal and vital role charter schools play in the future of our educational system.
It happened again Tuesday when the Kern County Board of Education said no to this newfangled idea and to folks in McFarland. However, logistics more than ideology more than likely failed folks in the north county and their bid for an online charter school.
And now Barbara Grimm-Marshall and the folks out at Grimmway Farms must wait and hope they've answered all the questions necessary to get their academy off the ground in Arvin.
While educators continue to pooh-pooh the idea of charter schools, many refuse to see the forest and continue to concentrate solely on test scores and money.
"What a lot of people fail to recognize is charter schools represent the