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[quote=Anonymous]Because charter schools in the rest of the country aren't the same as here in DC.

Yes, there are cases (like in DC) where the starting place (DCPS 20 years ago) is a true disaster for nearly everyone, AND money is not generally the problem (even at its worst, DCPS had very high per-pupil funding). And charters can be (and were!) a rising tide that lifted all boats. More families stayed (the population of school aged kids in DC has grown significantly faster than general population growth in DC since charters came to be), in general, DCPS elementary schools have been improving, poor kids have more options.

But, there are also places where charter schools are brought in with the political agenda not to save public schools but to destroy them. Michigan and Pennsylvania both come to mind. Results that are worst than the public schools they were brought in to improve. They are often for-profit and actually making money for hedge funds, which then supports politicians who support them, and the cycle continues. There's been fraud and waste, and low accountability. Plus, while most at least have to theoretically take kids from a lottery, there are LOTS of ways that charters can shape their student bodies. Think about the early days of charters in DC, when people used to camp out in front of Yu Ying to get a good timestamp for the waitlist.

So, as a very liberal person, I'm very in favor of DC's charter schools and the lottery system (though of course there could be improvements) but I am NOT in favor of charters as the silver bullet everywhere. The devil is really in the details, and in many (most?) places, the answer isn't charter schools, it's more funding. [/quote]

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