When politicians and pundits take to the barricades to defend "wonderful charter schools," is this what they're thinking of?
A recent article in a Minnesota newspaper reported about a change in state law that could imperil the existence of a charter school that serves a student body sorely in need of heroic efforts. According to the reporter, "Nine out of 10 of the school’s 275 high schoolers meet the legal definition of 'highly mobile,' meaning they do not have stable housing; 109 are flat-out homeless. Some couch-surf. Some sleep in cars, some in bus stations. Often they spend the night in small groups, for safety. Poverty – a given – is usually the least of their worries. To teens forced to support themselves, a diploma is a life raft."
The schools founder and chief operator is quoted: "We have kids who are one credit away from graduating … We are one of the first consistent things in their lives.”
A compelling story for sure and likely one example, among others, that was in the minds of most in Congress when the US House of Representatives recently passed controversial legislation to expand federal funds for more charter schools without placing any substantial new regulations on those schools.