In an LA Times article, Oakland mayor and ex-gov Jerry Brown preaches to the charter school choir.
There’s certainly something to be said for charter schools, especially to the extent that they’re able to provide a greater diversity of educating style, but I’m not sure what to make of this:
Brown said he successfully lobbied Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger last year to veto legislation that would have prohibited charter schools from dropping students who did not meet their academic standards.
“How can we hold schools accountable if we don’t allow schools to hold their students accountable?” Brown said, alluding to the federal No Child Left Behind Act, which calls for sanctioning schools whose students do not meet expected achievement levels.
If and as charter school proliferate, what happens the the students they drop? Do we abandon universal public education, or do our public schools become a dumping ground for all the students that don’t meet “expected achievement levels” at the charters?