Great Hearts charter school faces resistance in Nashville
Parents fear school wants affluent, white families
Officials with Arizona-based Great Hearts Academies charter school chain say they never have had resistance trying to start schools around Phoenix like they’re having in Nashville.
After laws changed in Tennessee to lift a cap on the number of charter schools that can open, and also allow any student to enroll, Great Hearts targeted the Volunteer State and Texas to expand.
But about 50 Metro school parents stood before a microphone at Tuesday’s school board meeting, half asking members not to approve the charter school’s opening in 2013.
“We’ve never had … coverage like this — we just want to run schools,” said Peter Bezanson, chief academic officer for the chain.
Several parents against the charter, which is a public school but privately managed and offers a private school-like curriculum, said they feared Great Hearts is targeting affluent, white families in West Nashville. That could cherry pick high-scoring students out of