Charter schools providing options
Earlier this week we discussed the situation in Richmond over the proposed charter elementary school. As we have noted, thousands of students all across the country are already benefitting from charter schools. Unfortunately for Virginia families, education bureaucrats are still standing in the way of those types of choices.
Some charter school headlines from across the country:
New Chandler charter has kids aiming high (Arizona):
Parent Lynn Leih said she researched Paragon’s sister schools and liked that they ranked high on statewide standard tests, along with the emphasis on math, science and technology. She enrolled her third-grader, Joshua, who attended a traditional public school, and her kindergartner, Jonathan.
“He’s already learning Spanish,” the mother said. “It’s not that we didn’t like the (public) elementary school, but this was an opportunity for a more advanced education.”
Charter school focuses on individuals (Indiana):
“All of these students, pretty much, at some point were turned off to the idea of learning,” Lukens said. Learning was “something that was done to them, so we want to help them love learning again.”
Charter school can improve education for all (Texas):
There are 196 charter schools operating throughout the state in predominately urban areas. Many have been in business since 1996. Historically, competition from charter schools has encouraged higher standards in traditional public schools. The charter school model is one of the most important advances in public education, and we feel it is absolutely the most appropriate model for this area of Texas, public education and the kids who will attend from the designated geographic boundaries. We feel charter schools improve public education by providing competition as well as a new venue to test new theories and implement the best practices for public schools.
Charter school offers enrichment classes (New Mexico):
Some Cottonwood Valley Charter School students have to answer those questions as part of “The Big Idea,” one of five new enrichment classes. This year, Cottonwood offered an enrichment program for its sixth- through eighth-graders.
