Reply to Given the rigor of Basis, was it ever expected to be for every kid in the District?

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Reply to "Given the rigor of Basis, was it ever expected to be for every kid in the District? "

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]So... here is the thing. If you are not able to teach every student- then you are not a public school. There are plenty of private schools in area that will not alter content/delivery for students. And thats OK- because they are not a PUBLIC school. 
I feel that the reason parents get so uppity about their  'rigirous' charters, where they do not want below grade level kids- is that they really want a private school but cannot or won't shell out the money for it. So either find the cash- or accept ALL kids who want in. Is teaching a kid 3 years below grade leve a good time, nope. But if its good enough for the 'terrible' teachers in DCPS (which is where the kids are going once they are kicked out a charter), then it should be a no brainer for the instructional rockstars at a charter like BASIS.[/quote]

But DCPS teachers are not good at providing differentiated instruction that accommodates both the grade level kids and kids who are up to 3 years below grade level. Instead, the kids who are at grade level are slowed down while the kids who are 3 years below grade level never catch up. After several years of this, many of the kids who started out at grade level are behind as well.

BASIS teachers would probably be no better at providing this type of differentiated instruction in a single classroom.  It is just too difficult.

Bear mind that the kids who are at or above grade level have just as strong a claim on an appropriate public education as the kids who are 3 years behind.  In fact, their claim might well be stronger as it costs less to educate them and the likely return on the dollars that society invests in their education is higher, i.e., higher incomes, higher income tax revenue, higher property values, higher property taxes, less criminal behavior, etc.

It is unreasonable to tell the families of these kids that they must either accept a mediocre education or pony up the cash to go private.  The DC city council recognized this when it passed DC's charter law, and now almost half of DC's kids are educated by charter schools. [/quote]

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