Over at Horses ASS, my friend Neil predicts hairs’ breath win for Charter Schools, I 1240.
The win is good news because believe the thin margin reflects dirty politics by the opponents of I 1240. This simple and logical initiative . would have gotten far more votes if it were not for push polls and robocalls that utterly lied:
Here is the push polling I received:
“1. Do you believe we should allow charter schools to take money from our public schools?”
This was and is a crock. Charter schools, under WA 1240, are public schools, they get NO more money than any other public school, they are open to all students in the District, and the teachers must meet the same standards as teachers in any other public school. Read the initiative here.
In fact, Charter Schools are likely to bring additional funds to the district because many funding agencies, including the Federal Dept. of Education, now condition their grants on a Distict’s having Charters.
“2. Charter Schools are inferior to existing pubic schools”
This too is a crock. Studies show, as expected, a mix of achievements by charters schools .. as expected since they are quite divers. The central concept of charters, however, is that they must compete to keep in existence while meeting the minimal standards of traditional schools. However, enrollment in charters, unlike in traditional classrooms, is optional. If the schools do nto work better than the traditional classrooms,parents will and should opt out. This offers poor parents, esp, a freedom of choice they do not have in the traditional model.
“3. Do you think it is fair that teachers in charter schools will not receive a union wage?”
This is partly true. In our current system teachers can neither be fired not can they be promoted for achievement. Charter schools give a public school classroom the same opportunities to reward success as a classroom at a Catholic School, Jewish day school, Bush or Lakeside.