History of Charter Schools; Second in the Series
To note; again, not hugely comprehensive but a look at what the basic history is of charter schools. I think the history can best be summed up by saying the charter schools idea started as one thing and spread, like cracks on a windshield, in all directions. This is not to say that there are not some charters that are innovative. (I still need to do research to see if I can find even one charter that reflects the earliest thinking.)
Like NCLB, where we have 50 different tests and no real way to prove how American students are doing as a whole, there is charter law in 41 states and the District of Columbia and every single law is different, the numbers of allowed charters is different, the accountability is different and yet, the movement grows. When I get to the Landscape Today, I have some thoughts on why that is (and it's not because charters do well).
History of Charter Schools
Most sources credit Ray Budde, a professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for
Like NCLB, where we have 50 different tests and no real way to prove how American students are doing as a whole, there is charter law in 41 states and the District of Columbia and every single law is different, the numbers of allowed charters is different, the accountability is different and yet, the movement grows. When I get to the Landscape Today, I have some thoughts on why that is (and it's not because charters do well).
History of Charter Schools
Most sources credit Ray Budde, a professor of Education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst for
Advanced Learning Committees - History and Future
I have seen, for the past three years, a number of references to an advisory committee that the District will form to discuss and decide issues regarding Advanced Learning. This isn't the first time that the District has promised such a thing.
In 2000 the Board ordered a review of Spectrum to address the same questions and problems that we have today. A committee was formed that fall and worked all through the school year. Their meetings were prickly and divisive and the committee did not reach a consensus. Their work was reported out to the Board by Dr. June Rimmer, the Chief Academic Officer at that time. Her report did not accurately reflect anyone's opinion but her own. The Board received hundreds of emails advising them that the process and product was corrupted. This was my first activism in the District - reporting the dishonesty of Dr. Rimmer's report and calling for people to email the Board. To their great credit, the Board tossed out those results and ordered the staff to do it again - and do it honestly this time. Back then it was unusual for the board to get over 300 emails on a single topic, all
In 2000 the Board ordered a review of Spectrum to address the same questions and problems that we have today. A committee was formed that fall and worked all through the school year. Their meetings were prickly and divisive and the committee did not reach a consensus. Their work was reported out to the Board by Dr. June Rimmer, the Chief Academic Officer at that time. Her report did not accurately reflect anyone's opinion but her own. The Board received hundreds of emails advising them that the process and product was corrupted. This was my first activism in the District - reporting the dishonesty of Dr. Rimmer's report and calling for people to email the Board. To their great credit, the Board tossed out those results and ordered the staff to do it again - and do it honestly this time. Back then it was unusual for the board to get over 300 emails on a single topic, all
