Anonymous wrote:Please stop pretending that private schools are "nonprofit" -- all the top people make good money and the perks are outrageous.
BASIS would not be able to expand across the country if they did not have results to show. Regardless of whether or not they make a profit, the students come out with a very strong education. Somehow these businessmen are hiring top-notch teachers -- why can't our public school administrators do the same and have the same results?
Comparing BASIS to public schools doesn't tell us much. we are talking about a much different subset of students. Even among BASIS charters, the results vary widely depending on the populations served. BASIS DC was lambasted at teacher training this year for low scores, yet they serve a very different population than Scottsdale or Tucson. This is not a solution to public education. It's an option for some kids and should remain an option. there may even be some lessons to learn from their model. But it is not a model that can be followed in the public system and it is not a model that "works" for the vast majority of students who are ESL or special needs. And turnover is too big a problem at BASIS for them to be able to sustain the necessary continuity totey establish themselves in any one place. The model is about expanding, not growing and perfecting the individual school communities.