Good day, CharterFolk.
It’s been a while since we’ve shared a post that doesn’t revolve around the impending SCOTUS decision. Believe it or not, there have been plenty of developments back on the charter school ranch.
Many of them – imagine that – even have to do with whether kids are actually learning anything.
Charlie Barone wrote a great piece calling out Congressional Democrats for their ridiculous treatment of charter schools in last week’s hearing.
We’ll hope for a similar “Dear Chicago Democrats” epistle from him soon, as CTU and the Mayor’s office (which are indistinguishable) continue their assault on kids and families.
The revolt within the party over whether to embrace any form of an abundance agenda – never mind education abundance – is intensifying.
Steven Wilson’s new book …
… is getting a lot of attention.
While I would say declaring an entire lost decade seems too broad a brush, I agree that we have seen an over-correction away from academic rigor in some parts of CharterLand.
So Steven’s push here is a helpful one.
Charlie’s post highlights New Jersey, one place where charter schools continue to generate academic results that far exceed those of district schools.
As Brandon Brown writes, in many places across the country, learning gains have been accompanied by policy breakthroughs.
We live in a time, when many of the most influential consider school so yesterday.
It leads some states to open up new virtual and hybrid school options …
… while other states attempt to curtail their growth.
Nationally, the trend is to support trade schools, often at the expense of institutions once considered academically rigorous.
Every now and then, you find a publication that attempts to parse the nuances of school performance, like the Chronicle recently did in Houston.
Do we agree with the analysis? Do we disagree?
In the end, whether students are learning more remains the ranch the charter school movement always returns to.
Count on us here at CharterFolk to do our part to keep us in the saddle.