CHARLIE MITCHELL: The issue is whether charter schools can do it better
The premise of an offer to operate a charter school is, “Hey, we can do it better than you.”
In last week’s State of the State speech, Gov. Phil Bryant repeated a call he also included when being inaugurated for his second term. He invited parents to “imagine a Mississippi where schools competed for students.”
Indeed, a baseline for all things Republican and conservative, which Bryant certainly is, is that competition is the holy grail. It makes all things better.
That may not be far from true.
A problem, though, is that when it comes to a market-based approach to education, the experience across America during the era of charters and vouchers and choice has been mixed, at best.
The image of a charter school is a group of dedicated parents banding together. They are determined to have nothing but the best K-12 experience for their children, so they become a board of directors. Infused with public money, they hire high-energy teachers to work in state-of-the-art classrooms. Friendly, open, sunshine and rainbows. Clean and pristine. Little Bobby and Little Sue master calculus in the fourth grade and love doing so. Little Mary writes a book of poetry while in the eighth.
An alternate image – and perhaps more prevalent – is Education Inc. taking the reins.
As with so many other government functions that have been handed over to the private sector, Education Inc. is willing to do the job, but its priority is the bucks.
It’s the same conflict seen in many settings. Watch a medical show on TV. The tension point will CHARLIE MITCHELL: The issue is whether charter schools can do it better - Daily Journal:
