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War on charters = war on ‘the children’

Mar 13th, 2008 by Taylor Armerding

Supposedly, there are systems in place to make sure that when state or local government provides a service, it hires the best contractor to do the job. You know, if they find one who can build roads and bridges that last twice as long as the average for the same price as everybody else, they go with that contractor.
Except when it comes to education. The evidence is in - on balance, charter schools (which are public schools) do a better job educating our children (and did you know that children are our future?) than traditional public schools. That is why you see parents clamoring to get their students into them, and in some cases weeping when they don’t “win” the lottery. The waiting lists are long and getting longer. In Lawrence, where both local charter schools held their annual lotteries this week (read about it here) the Community Day Charter Public School had a waiting list of 755 four years ago. Now it stands at more than 930. The Family Development Charter School waiting list has grown from 255 to more than 600 in the same period.
In a sane world that really cared about “the children,” our elected leaders from Gov. Patrick on down through the Legislature would be encouraging the creation more charter schools to meet that pent-up demand. Instead, because the teachers’ unions hate charters (they are not controlled by the unions), there are various caps on them.
Think about that the next time your elected representative or senator tells you how much he or she cares about education and your children.

Posted in Local politics, State issues, Taylor Armerding | Comments

  • Scott
    Just another in a long line of anti-union pieces by Tayor Armerding. Police, Teachers, Firefighters, Drug Testing, Pensions, Health Insurance, and now Charter Schools. Did I miss anything?
  • frank
    Get past the anti-union issue, and is he right or wrong. I live in Lawrence and my daughter will never got to a public school. Fortunately i can afford to send her to a private school, but what about all the other parents that don't have that option. Question Scott do you have kids in the school system? If you don't you really shouldn't comment.
  • bilge rat
    We are lucky enough to be able to send our daughter to private school, also.

    I have had experience with two unions in the past. I was a steward for CWA and later a member of the Teamsters. I was involved in three strikes. In most cases, unions have outlived their usefulness. They promote mediocrity and discourage hard work and ideas. Unions prevent businesses from becoming competetive in the global marketplace with unrealistic benefit and salary demands. Why is it that there are so many businesses and their employees that flourish without the "help" of a union?

    If you need proof of union cluelessness, just look at the american auto industry. The american auto industry has been strangled by exorbitant and unreasonable union demands.
    Hence the demise of great american institutions such as GM, Ford, and Chrysler.

    Back to the subject...
    I feel that teachers in private schools have more accountability than their public counterparts. If they're not doing their job then it's the unemployment line. Parents have a lot more control over education in a private school than in a public setting, at least from my experience. Some of our friends have children in charter schools and feel the same way that we feel about private school accountability.
  • jacrlsn
    Scott,Is there anything you can offer in defence of unions? The Boston Firefighters Union is making a mockery of right and wrong. If unions don't change their intransigence to anything that hints they're wrong, the very people they need to reach will turn them off. You need to stop acting like an ostrich and take your head out of the sand.
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