Reply to Basis Mclean

Forum Index » Private & Independent Schools

Reply to "Basis Mclean"

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous]I saw Diane Ravitch speak about charter schools years ago, right when Basis dc was opening. Her basic point was public schools are not as bad as the school choice movement says they are, so there is no need for school choice, charter schools, magnet schools, and private schools.

i asked her afterwards if a charter school with a good record and a curriculum, where most (tho not all) parents at existing schools had good things to say about their kids' education, and about which smart education reporters like Jay Mathews at the Post consistently laud what is happening -- if that was coming to a community like it was coming to mine, what is the downside to sending my children there?

She said, there is no downside. She essentially said that she was speaking in a macro sense about "the choice movement" and how it denigrates public schools; that's her beef. But she said of course individual charter schools like basis or others could provide a great education for some kids, if not all kids.

And my husband followed up and asked, what school IS good for ALL kids? Is Harvard? Is SUNY Binghamton? She laughed and said no, not every school is right for every child, and public schools are at a disadvantage because they have to try harder to be, and charter schools have an advantage because while they should be, the burden on them is less stringent. Which may or may not be true, i dont know. But I see Basis dc seems t try. And it doesn't succeed with every kid, but I am not going to take my child out bc someone else had a worse experience.

The point is there are education professionals like ravitch who can rail against charters, but even she acknowledges, if you find a school that fits YOUR child -- go! Use it! That is a blessed opportunity!

The other point is, with the tens of thousands of parents who have sent their children to Basis schools in Arizona and Texas and the district and now california and new york, of course there are going to be some with "horror stories" of how it wasnt right for their kid. And that could be eventually true for our child too - and if it is, we will go back to our public school. So far, so good. (My 8th grader is at Basis DC, and my 2nd and 3rd graders will be there eventually).

But if Basis, with its acknowledged great curriculum and acknowledged great enthusiastic teachers who are truly excited to teach, is good for 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 percent of the kids who try it out -- whatever the number is -- that is fantastic for any community that lands a Basis school. [/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics