Latest News and Comment from Education

Sunday, July 22, 2012

Charter gamble is no sure bet

Charter gamble is no sure bet:


Charter gamble is no sure bet

The SRC´s Joseph Dworetzky, Feather Houstoun, and Pedro Ramos.
The SRC's Joseph Dworetzky, Feather Houstoun, and Pedro Ramos.
READER FEEDBACK
 Post a comment
ALSO ON PHILLY.COM
 
Charter gamble
 is no sure bet
The School Reform Commission may be taking too big a gamble by investing $139 million in charter-school expansions when there is evidence that many charters perform no better than traditional schools academically, and the lack of adequate regulation has birthed charters that misspend taxpayer dollars.

Charter schools should be made available for children who desperately need an alternative to city schools that are often violent and offer a poor education.
However, charters are no panacea and they do nothing to fix the bigger problem — the bad schools that the bulk of the city's students will still attend.
Nonetheless, the troubled district has made the addition of more charters an integral component of its radical plan to restructure the school system.
The cost should give everyone reason for