Spreading fear and anxiety is what charter schools do best — at least among traditional public school teachers and administrators. Edspresso links to this article about charter schools in New Orleans:
More than half of New Orleans schoolchildren attend charter schools, and more are on the way. That’s making teachers at some traditional public schools nervous.
The main cause of concern identified in the article is that children with disabilities and behavior problems will be left in the traditional public schools, while “better” students go off to charters.
If I were a parent of a disabled child, I would hesitate to send him or her to the Recovery School District. Can you imagine sending disabled children to a district where they’re considered a liability, to be “diluted” with “good” students to the greatest extent possible?
If the district is really worried that disabled children are being left behind, it should work to form more charters specifically for disabled students.
