New Charter Report

Kudos to Alameda County School Superintendent Sheila Jordan. Instead of letting charter public schools and traditional public schools fight like cats and dogs she convened a task force to provide an opportunity for leaders on both sides to sit down and talk through the issues.

The result is this genuinely interesting report (pdf). In short, there are differences, sure, that’s life…but also a lot of common ground not just on the broad goal of serving kids well, but also on some specific policy issues. There is also a lot more nuance than the political back and forth from both sides often indicates.

Incidentally, the task force leader, Eric Rofes, also recently co-wrote this must-read book.