Comments on San Francisco Schools: What's not to like about charter schools?

"Individually, I know there are excellent charter ...

2009-09-17T15:49:42.078-07:00

"Individually, I know there are excellent charter schools around."

Oh, really, Caroline? Funny, I've never heard you admit that there actually might be a charter school out there that is working. Instead, you seem hell bent on lumping them all into evil and destructive tools of the right wing.
Some of us happily send our kids to these schools, so you can imagine how we might get a bit, um, defensive about your broad brush portrayal of our children's schools.

Maybe this explains why you are at the receiving end of so many personal attacks.

Individually, I know there are excellent charter s...

2009-04-18T12:51:00.000-07:00

Individually, I know there are excellent charter schools around. My post is on the OVERALL impact and significance of charter schools. In my view, unfortunately, even the finest charter school, and the best intentioned, adds might to that overall impact. If I found myself in the charter school world, I think I'd be trying to start a breakaway force to take charter schools back to their original vision. Unfortunately, that would mean renouncing the billionaires and their resources -- which isn't easy to do!

Just like in regular public schools, it all depend...

2009-04-18T12:25:00.000-07:00

Just like in regular public schools, it all depends on the leadership. Good teachers and good leaders can make for a terrific charter school. Of course, one must also be very selective about the students who are allowed to attend.

Really bad charter schools (and they exist) usually have bad leadership, poorly educated teachers and students who would rather be somewhere else.