Dr. Martin Hash Podcast

The argument for Charter Schools has lots of liberty-sounding rhetoric but it's actually an attempt to bypass the Teachers & other public employee unions. In reality, Charter Schools are no better as learning institutions than public schools because they still use the same traditional didactic teaching techniques of fixed time & place, orator & audience, with similar results. Public education proponents use this fact to point at Charter Schools and gleefully proclaim Charter Schools are a failure but they're missing the point, which is the opportunity for choice: parents & students have the choice of whether to attend a Charter School, for whatever private reasons they want. Choice is control, a very valuable human commodity indeed.

Charter Schools do gain an amount of management & financial flexibility by escaping the union straight-jacket but for-profit Charter Schools leverage that flexibility to make money, and non-profit Charter Schools are overwhelmed with the same poor-performing students that overwhelm poorly-performing public schools. Also, Charter Schools often can't withstand the scrutiny attracted by the political grandstanding used to get them going. On-the-other-hand, the circle-the-wagons attitude of public schools & their School Board toadies preys on conservative fears in the local community, exploiting the reputation, respect & reverence that citizens hold for education.