Leaders from around the country are calling for major reforms to public education while calling for more charter schools.
N.J. Governor Chris Christie unveiled his budget and called reforms to address an $11 billion state deficit. While proposing a $820 million reduction in K-12 education, he renewed support for charter schools.
“You can expect to see more charter schools next year despite the state’s fiscal woes. In fact, I’ve held charter schools harmless in this budget because they already pay enough”.
He also spoke of education reform, “education dollars belong in the classroom and should be spent on instruction, not on more administrators and additional compliance costs to address onerous requirements that have questionable value”.
March 18, 2010, N.J. Real-Time News
VA. Governor Robert McDonnell presented an ambitious proposal to expand the number of charter schools in Virginia. He also said that he wants to create virtual schools in which students can learn outside traditional classrooms and laboratory schools that would benefit from partnerships with Virginia colleges and universities.
“Charter schools aren’t a silver bullet, but they are an important option for parents and children seeking new choices in a public education system.”
February 11, 2010, The Washington Post
LA. Governor Bobby Jindal clearly isn’t trying to make friends with Louisiana’s teacher unions. The governor describes his education agenda as a way to improve school, teacher and student performance.
Two bills would promote charter schools and make traditional schools function more like charter schools by letting them get waivers from state law and education policies….and another would rate teachers, in part, on student test scores and make it easier to dismiss them if they fail repeated reviews.
“So often we’ve heard from schools that complain that we give flexibility to charter schools or we’ve heard from public schools that the state only helps them through the recovery district when it’s time for a state takeover,” the governor said.
April 19, 2010, The News Star
N.Y. Mayor Michael Bloomberg controls New York’s vast education system.
During a recent panel discussion on education reform called ‘Great Expectations’ the mayor was asked for his ideas to solve problems in public schools.
Without hesitation he said, “it all begins with great teachers. We cannot continue to value teachers solely based on seniority. While we consider organized labor as a partner to help resolve this problem, we have to change the way we do business in our public schools. If the economy requires that teachers be furloughed or terminated, it has to be based on keeping the great teachers. That may mean keeping a great first year teacher and regretfully terminating a 30 year teacher if they are failing to educate children in their classroom. Our children deserve no less.”
March 25, 2010, MSNBC Joe Scarborough show
Summary from OCQE President Ron F. Adler
It’s been said that the core structure of traditional public schools has not changed a great deal over the last 50 years. For that reason, more and more public leaders across the county are calling for education reform and recognize that charter schools are a critical component.
Every year thousands of parents search for alternatives to the ‘one-size-fits-all’ form of traditional public education. They are seeking a new kind of education to address the individual needs of their children.
And policymakers, facing unsustainable debt, are beginning to recognize that charter schools, by necessity, have learned how to operate innovative public schools while managing their limited dollars far more effectively than traditional district schools.
Public Charter Schools ~ An Important Component of
Ohio’s Public Education System
