NYT’s Sam Dillon turns in an important story on charter schools in Ohio.* It’s really two stories, the Ohio narrative and the larger political story. On the former, two key quotes:
“If chronically lousy charters aren’t closed, the charter movement will continue under assault from its opponents” — Todd Ziebarth
“Mr. Ryan said it was hypocritical to sue failing charters without moving against Ohio’s scores of failing neighborhood schools.”
On Ziebarth, couldn’t agree more. On Ryan, not sure it’s hypocritical, the circumstances are different, but it’s surely both political and not in the best interest of kids. Here is where the Joe Williams “no crap” doctrine comes in — states shouldn’t tolerate lousy schools of any stripe. Sure, it lacks the elegance of say the Monroe Doctrine, but for poor kids it’s more important right now.
Dillon also does a nice job explaining why Ohio is somewhat anomalous as a charter school state. That points up the basic narrative here and why what’s happening in Ohio is worthy of the front page of The Times…the political story and possible implications.
*I was also surprised to see from the photo accompanying the article that Uma Thurman has been teaching at a low-performing charter school in Ohio. Who knew?
I’m providing this comment for a professional development course. I just want to share the idea that cell phones should be used for emergency use only. They should not be pulled out during class. Using cell phones in a classroom can be a distraction for the teacher and student’s learning. There’s a place and time to use a cellphone or other computer device.
I work at a charter school that started out as a regular public school and made the transition to charter gradually. As a result, I feel that we have the basic structure of a public school and have benefited from that solid foundation. I wonder if there is any research on the success rate of charters that start out as traditional public schools versus schools that originate as charters?
Wow – a PD course that allows you to leave cranky non sequitur comments on blogs for credit? Sign me up!
Speaking of which – I think there are too many states nowadays. Please eliminate three.
“Mr. Ryan said it was hypocritical to sue failing charters without moving against Ohio’s scores of failing neighborhood schools.”
Perhaps they should sue the state since most of them do little to nothing in terms of equalizing funding, facilities, or teacher quality.
If I had to eliminate 3 US states, I’d go with Al Anbar, Al Basra, and maybe An Najaf. But I’d keep Kurdistan. Those guys are cool.