I can’t imagine there being such a resistance to charter schools if the powers-that-be were interested in getting things right, if charter schools were parent-teacher driven laboratories of learning. But since they are not, since what most have become is publicly funded private schools designed not to teach children but to line the pockets of corporate profiteers there has to be resistance. I just can’t help but wonder why there isn’t more resistance in Tallahassee especially since legislators even republican legislators are now admitting many charter schools have dubious qualities.
The Following is from a Palm beach Post article by John Kennedy: Gov. Rick Scott’s pitch to lift enrollment limits on charter schools is drawing lukewarm support from fellow Republicans in the Florida Legislature, with many saying they are cautious about giving a green light to expansion.
The high-profile collapse of some charter schools – including Excel Leadership Academy in Delray Beach – is contributing to the Legislature’s go-slow approach, lawmakers said.
“I support the charter school movement, but schools that have not been accountable hurt all of them,” said Sen. David Simmons, R-Maitland, a member of the Senate Education Committee. “Responsible charter schools are the ones who should demand that we don’t have any more black eyes.”
Simmons’ area was rocked last year by the closing of NorthStar High School, a charter school with 180 students where the principal was earning more than $300,000 annually and received a $519,000 contract buyout even as the school was failing.
Friends here is a republican legislator admitting the way Florida does things is wrong. Shouldn’t we slow down and get it right?
