Mr. Obenshain, Education Reformer? Be warned...

Mr. Obenshain is at it again. Solving problems that don’t exist. Charter schools? Really? Mr. Obenshain and the Virginia GOP are late comers to the whole charter school reform movement which has been going on since the mid 90's. It's an idea that started out with some promise but has been largely co-opted by "reformers" who wish to take public funds to support privatization of schools. 

The reform movement has been around long enough that the research has been done, and the results are clear. Charters don't improve education of children.  Charters have come to be a way of segregating the schools between the haves and have nots, the disabled and the abled, the religious zealots and the simply religious. 

I’ll say this again because it is such an important part of the Virginia GOP DNA, this is a solution for a problem that does not exist. Virginia’s public schools do a magnificent job of educating our children within the parameters that already exist. Programs are already in place for differentiated learning opportunities providing flexibility for students, teachers, and parents. Public schools are mandated to accept ALL students and provide the absolute best education possible for ALL of them. 

Charter schools divert money from the public schools and allow public funding of private schools. Private schools do not have to accept all students. Studies show that pretty soon, to keep their accreditation, they begin to cull students for various reasons finding ways that they don’t measure up. Then it’s back to the public schools. 

There is a pretty big pile of money sitting there in the education budget for public schools. Mr. Obenshein and his fellow reformers want to siphon off some of that cash and give it to the educational corporations that always follow the creation of charter schools. If the state gets involved, the proliferation of charter schools increases, privatization ensues and education becomes profitable but not better. 

“Students? Children? Oh… they’ll be ok.  Anyway, mine are safe in a charter school.”

For more about Charter Schools and their unique relationship to Public Education go here and spend some time reading.

More work to do… Brent Holl