Anonymous wrote:
Anonymous wrote:Sound familiar?
"At first glance, Basis Tucson charter school looks like a world beater. More than 90% of Basis Tucson students pass the AIMS test"..."Mr. Block would seem to have an argument for why he and his wife have every right to enrich themselves privately with Arizona taxpayers’ public money."...
"But wait just a second...The word on the street since day #1 of the Basis Tucson charter school is that any parent seeking to enroll his or her child in the school was warned off if there was any hint that the child would not score high on the barrage of tests a Basis student would eventually face. Limited English speaking child? “Your child might find our school very demanding.” Special needs child? “We may not be able to accommodate the child’s special circumstances.”
http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/judge-us-our-results
Well first off having a successful charter school brand in AZ sounds like the new Silicon Valley start up - a road to riches, but with a lot less guarantee of sucess. Seems to be standard practice there, however appalling we might find it. Second of all, I think BASIS has learned a bit since then. The school head last year was ill equipped, he is gone. They were out of their league on IEPs and 504s, they hired an experienced woman who has a good rep with the DCPSCB to fix the problem, and the pamphlets about how to get help are front and center at the entrance of the school now. Whatever else can be said, they are doing a lot better at quickly and proactively responding to problems once they have been identified. The allegations of racism? Until the school is no longer majority AA and full of FARMS kids I call bullshit.