The real dirt on charter school opponents

The fact that the DPLU has threatened not only to close a public charter school but also threatens a lawsuit should frighten everyone in this community. What’s next, might we ask – the public library? Almost laughable, but mostly frightening.

Consider that there is a bigger picture here than some would like to acknowledge. This month’s cover story in the Hoover Institution publication “Education Next,” entitled “The Whack-a-Charter Game,” is a tell-all of the “ground war” going on all over the country on how school boards and their allies (zoning commissions and teachers unions, among others) block the competition. The story is a real eye-opener for those of us who thought kids came first and their education was at the top of the list for educators in our communities.

There are one million students enrolled in public charters in 41 states and the majority have faced some form of bureaucratic resistance at the local level. The Fallbrook School District does not have one charter school to call their own and with three schools in the “needs improvement” category, any competition only makes the district look worse. With its outstanding 915 (API) score, The New School has surely become a target for the local bureaucrats. Playing games with facilities and zoning is a surefire way to kill a school if the change-resistant bureaucrats prevail.

Sorry, kids, your education will have to wait while your parents struggle to fund the fight and the county aims to destroy your public school funded by our own tax dollars.

Patte Hamilton