Reply to BASIS DC to open in 2012-2013

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]YY aside, you cannot build a charter school in your image. What you're looking for is a selective public magnet or private school.

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That is what I said, [u]high achievers [/u]from all SES backgrounds, which includes KIPP students that are low SES.[/quote]  BTDT parent here. It is a charter, lest people get too excited. There is no way to guarantee there will be a critical mass of high achieveing [i]students[/i] even if they come from high expectation families of all SES levels. There could be plenty of revolving door students in the lottery who cycle in at middle school age from other schools (voluntarily or not).  Basis will have to take advanced, G&T, below basic and SPED. This is one of the challenges of charters from elsewhere expanding in DC.  Like regular public schools, they have to be all things to all people by law. This can be particularly hard at stand alone middle schools. Schools like KIPP, DC Prep, Haynes and others have kids starting with them at preschool. To ensure a mass of achievers, Basis will need to steal market share from established schools. The OOB and top charter waitlists are not necessarily and accurate indicator of parent preparedness to stick with a startup school that will be expected to (realistically or not) deliver kickass test results from year one. If not, it will be an uphill climb to attract "involved" parents of MS kids willing to stick it out for 2-3 years while Basis works through the differences between Scottsdale and Southeast.

Don't get me wrong. I signed the petition to bring Basis here before I knew much about them simply because I've been involved in charters and believe some can be great. But DC is no longer the Wild West of charter reform. There is more focus on closing the less than great ones sooner than adding as many as possible faster.

Does anyone know why Basis chose DC after suburban-ish Arizona? [/quote]

Yes. It because DC charter schools are allowed to hire uncertified teachers.  this is not the case in every state.  From what I gather, a major thrust of Basis is that they hire their teachers based on their teaching ability AND their depth of expertise in their particular subject.  Anyone who looks Round can see pretty quickly that certified teachers are not often also the highest caliber in their subject area (  chemistry, math, world history, journalism, us government etc.)  I am a certified teacher and can tell you that the ridiculously irrelevant course of study and subsequent bureaucracy to become a certified teacher drives away anyone slightly sane who.doesn't want their time wasted.[/quote]

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