[RSCT] Obama, Charter Schools, and Education's Future

[Bob Peterson]



Dear Friend of Rethinking Schools,

Last night, President Obama laid out his agenda for the next year,  
including his plans for education.

"But we know that our schools don't just need more resources," he  
told a joint session of Congress. "They need more reform. ... [We]  
will expand our commitment to charter schools."

While Congress cheered, I thought of the words written in the  
introduction to Rethinking Schools' book, Keeping the Promise? The  
Debate Over Charter Schools:

"The question facing the charter school movement is whether it will  
fulfill its founding promise of a reform that empowers the powerless,  
or whether it will become a vehicle to further enrich the powerful  
and stratify our schools."

Yes, hopes and dreams are needed in a time of despair and upheaval.  
However, in the case of the president's charter school initiative, as  
with any policy this or any other administration proposes, there  
needs to be vigorous public debate about the strategies involved to  
assure equity and justice for all rather than financial gain for the  
few.

Keeping the Promise? The Debate Over Charter Schools is an  
indispensable text for anyone serious about understanding the  
politics and economics of charter schools.

Keeping the Promise? gives the reader in-depth accounts of the  
charter experience in Ohio and three cities with significant charter  
school systems: Washington, D.C., New Orleans, and Boston. These  
analyses examine whether charter schools are "keeping the promise" to  
better serve disadvantaged children or have become another tool of  
the free-market, privatization agenda.

Keeping the Promise? also includes interviews with founders and  
leaders of three community-based charter schools about the challenges  
and benefits of running semi-autonomous schools. It closes with a  
chapter by nationally-known educator Linda Darling-Hammond of  
Stanford University who reflects on how policy choices alter the  
nature of charter schooling in different states.

I invite you to take a look at this important book, including the  
table of contents and glowing reviews, at www.rethinkingschools.org/ 
publication/promise/promise.shtml.

Fred McKissack
Managing Editor
Rethinking Schools

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