Diane Ravitch on Charter Schools

Diane Ravitch's 2010 article, The Myth of Charter Schools,  struck a profound chord with me. Like her, I firmly believe that our society shirks its duty toward children when it allows them to live in poverty - 20% of the children in the USA live in poverty! -  and maligns teachers when it overwhelmingly blames them for the failure of children of poverty to thrive.

When talking about how to improve education in the US, she points out that the quality of teachers has a significant impact on children - and she suggests that we do everything we can to raise the standard of those who go into the field. She stresses that this is the most productive way to improve the quality of teachers, not the current methodology, which seeks to humiliate and weed out unsuccessful teachers. If we screen future teachers better, and reward them financially, we will have learned an important lesson from our colleagues in Finland and Singapore.

She notes the current trend toward hiring principals who lack a background in education. The thinking apparently is that schools should be run more like businesses. Like Ravitch I see this as a worrisome trend. Children are not machines - they are much more complex - and without experience in the classroom, knowing of their complexities - I don't see principals making effective decisions about curriculum.

I agree with Diane Ravitch that allowing for-profit organizations to run charter schools is a terrible idea. Much as Church and State should be separated, so should the education of children for life in a democracy be separated from the search for material gain.