School officials want better education for their students. Better opportunities. More involvement and more agreement. Better test scores, fewer tests. More excitement, less complaining. School officials seem to want to have it all and do it all-- all in the name of education, of course. Why then, can they not seem to agree when it comes to how (and where) students learn best?
If you have been a long-time reader of this blog, you may remember a post a few months ago about charter schools. I questioned whether or not they were as fabulous as America is making them sound. The answer?
Not so much.
Madison School District Superintedent Geoff Thomas expressed his concerns about charter school education in a Pre-Professional Conference at BYU-Idaho this October. He feels that much of the motivation behind starting a charter school is the amount of funds it receives for such a small number of students and teachers. He also mentioned that the majority of charter schools in Idaho are not outperforming public schools.
However, according to a recent article posted by The Associated press on Edweek.org, more than 2 million students are now attending charter schools across the US. It also stated that more than 500 new charter schools opened during the 2011-2012 school year.
Are those numbers screaming success to us?
Perhaps. They must doing something right.
Perhaps the country is heeding President Obama's encouragement in 2009 to embrace educational opportunities by increasing the number of new and innovative charter schools across the country.Or maybe the one-on-one instruction students receive daily is yielding these results.
Whatever the reason, charter schools seem to be working their magic on students. And parents and teachers are loving what they see.
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