What It's Like to Attend the Nation's Finest High School
I have kept no secret at this Blog that I consider the BASIS charter school chain to be a disaster. If you wonder why, read here, and here, here, and here. In spite of its obvious shortcomings, US News & World Report was blind to the facts when it ranked a couple of its schools (BASIS Scottsdale and BASIS Tucson) among the Top Ten high schools in the United States! BASIS contend that they are not "selective" and that they are open to all comers. This is another cunning and deceptive part of their sales pitch. Listen to one of their "parent information sessions" and imagine what kind of parent would send their child into that school.
One parent in Mesa, Arizona, did send her child into a BASIS charter. She has chosen to remain anonymous — I suspect that her child has to survive the last few months of the school year. Read this family's experience, and you will know why a BASIS charter starts out with a few hundred children in the elementary grades but ends up with a few dozen by graduation time — a few dozen, I may add, who are no more accomplished than many times that number of high school seniors in neighboring traditional public schools.
BASIS Mesa opened for the 2013-2014 school year. My son started there as a 5th grader. He is a straight A student at BASIS and has been since he started. Why are we thinking of moving him to the Chandler School District when he is obviously doing so well? We believe that there is more to school than teaching for AP Gene V Glass: Education in Two Worlds: What It's Like to Attend the Nation's Finest High School: