An Exchange with a Reader about Charter Schools
An exchange with a reader this morning:
| Diane, I thank you for calling attention to the challenges of public schools working well with public charter schools. (when i say public charters, i’m referring to those I’m familiar with where the local school district is the authorizor and the transparency and accountability measures are in place).As a strong supporter of teachers, i’m surprised you don’t think it is a positive for some schools to be able to get out of all this ridiculous tying teachers to test scores…isn’t this a good thing ?? Or is this just really galling because because your goal is for ALL schools to be exempt and transparency? I’m reading all of your blogs posts, and you are posting many, and I love your perspective. Your book The Great American School system actually educated me at how much I had been”fooled” into using many of the buzzwords (like choice). Now, as a parent serving on a governing board for a local not-for profit-public charter I feel i now have to use instead of “charter school” to accurately share what kind of public school my kid attends and to avoid rapid rush to judgement during |
98% of Eligible Students Say No to Vouchers
Have you ever wondered what would happen if a state offered vouchers to more than half its students?
The Louisiana Department of Education just learned the answer to that question. It made the offer to 450,000 students. Not quite 9,000 students applied to enroll in the voucher program that begins in September. That’s 2% of the eligibles.
That means that 98% of the 450,000 students who were eligible declined to apply.
Not exactly a stampede for the exits. No big rush to enroll in the little church schools that are supposedly better
The Louisiana Department of Education just learned the answer to that question. It made the offer to 450,000 students. Not quite 9,000 students applied to enroll in the voucher program that begins in September. That’s 2% of the eligibles.
That means that 98% of the 450,000 students who were eligible declined to apply.
Not exactly a stampede for the exits. No big rush to enroll in the little church schools that are supposedly better
Why Does Ohio Governor Kasich Treat Teachers as Public Enemy #1?
A reader writes in response to the post about New Jersey Governor Christie:
When you solve this mystery please come and help us in Ohio to uncover why Gov. Kascich has made teachers public enemy number one. We may have defeated his infamous House Bill 5, but he and his cronies are managing to slip in most of the laws and regulations in the back door .
Are there any Republican governors who are not at war with the teachers in their state? If so, please let me know. Maybe something happened at the Republican Governors’ conference in 2011.
When you solve this mystery please come and help us in Ohio to uncover why Gov. Kascich has made teachers public enemy number one. We may have defeated his infamous House Bill 5, but he and his cronies are managing to slip in most of the laws and regulations in the back door .
Are there any Republican governors who are not at war with the teachers in their state? If so, please let me know. Maybe something happened at the Republican Governors’ conference in 2011.