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Saturday, August 1, 2015

How bad is the idea of a charter school district really?

I can imagine Gary Chartrand, the man who is really in charge of Duval's schools kicking himself saying, why didn't I think of that, when Palm Beach Superintendent Robert Avossa proposed turning his entire district into a charter school district, a sentiment he never mentioned when applying for the job by the way.

https://fundeducationnow.wordpress.com/2015/07/31/charter-school-district-proposed-superintendent-wants-greater-flexibility-to-improve-education/


The thing is if you can get past the initial shock of the headline it may not be that bad of an idea.

Now I am sorry if you just spit out your milk but the idea as he proposes it is not to give the district's schools over to mercenaries and privatizers but instead to give the district schools more flexibility.

I have long wondered that if the reason we have charter schools is so some schools can get around onerous regulations then why don't we get rid of the onerous regulations? The main reason I imagine being money as in the donors to the republican legislature in Tallahassee couldn't make any if they did that.

This is not to say I don't have serious concerns about the idea. The chief one is to make sure this is not just a way to get rid of veteran teachers and to make sure teachers are properly compensated for they hours put in. 

Then there is the class size requirements which may be gutted even further by this proposal. The only people who think packing kids like sardines into classes are the people who have never taught or been in those classes. 

Not one step forward should be made unless these and other concerns are addressed.

Or maybe if there are onerous regulations standing in the way of doing a good job we should just get rid of those regulations, doesn't that make the most sense?


1 comment:

  1. Yes, of course, getting rid of the onerous regulations makes sense! But making sense doesn't seem to be a goal of those in charge.

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