Editorial | Charter school mirage | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com

Editorial | Charter school mirage | The Courier-Journal | courier-journal.com:

Editorial | Charter school mirage

5:22 PM, Jan. 17, 2012 |

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• Steve Beshear

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Like an unwelcome relative at family gatherings, the push for charter schools has returned to Kentucky.

Politically, it needs to be taken seriously. Charter schools have had support in the past in the state Senate, and Senate President David Williams supported them during his unsuccessful Republican campaign for governor last year. Previous bids to authorize charter schools have died in the House, but there are some high-stakes issues confronting the General Assembly — expanded gambling, tax reform, a bid to create a state university in Pikeville, painful budget cuts — that could prompt game-changing bargains. Gov. Steve Beshear, who has seemed open to charter schools, can’t be counted on as a last line of defense.

But charter schools should not be