Tuesday, May 19, 2015

You might be a charter school fan...

If every time your car gets too full of fast food wrappers and empty drink cans, you go buy a new car (and kept the old one so you can make payments on both), you might be a charter school fan.

If ice cream cones cost a dollar and you only have 75 cents, so you decide the solution is to buy three, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think it's a shame that some schools have gotten worse since they let Those People in, you might be a charter school  fan.

If you think a great way to build grit in children is to entrust their care to an institution that might close at any time with no warning, you might b a charter school fan.

If you think anybody can be a great teacher as long as they teach out of the right book, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think there trouble with democracy is that it allows too many of the wrong people to vote, you might be a charter school  fan.

If you think the best way to fix a crumbling bridge is to let private companies all build bridges up and down the river, you might be a charter school fan. If you think they should all do it with the same total money budgeted for the original bridge, you definitely might be a charter school fan.

If you think taxpayers should not get to elect the people who decide what to do with taxpayer dollars, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think lifeboats and fire fighters should only rescue the worthy from peril, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think the operation of education is best left to hedge fund managers, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think competition has made McDonald's, Microsoft, Netscape, America On Line, and Myspace great, you might be a charter school fan.

If you think rules are for suckers and little people, you might be a charter school fan.

Of course, if you've thought for years that fully funded charters could be a way to foster rich variety and creativity while working as partners with public schools, you might also be a charter school fan. Just a very lonely one at the moment.

3 comments:

  1. I would add that if you think that Waldorf, Montessori, progressive, and other more specialized educations can benefit children who live in relatively poor households just as much as the children who live in relatively wealthy households (and thus can afford private school), you might be a charter fan.

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  2. I would add those privately-owned bridges all up and down the river? They’ll tell you they’re great because users are given “bridge choice”, but they’ll charge you a huge toll as opposed to the original, free bridge.

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