Charterism

Via "sunshinelaws" on Twitter: what are we to make of this?

The American Civil Liberties Union of New Jersey (“ACLU-NJ”) was recently contacted by an anonymous requester of public records about the open government practices of the Lady Liberty Academy Charter School (“Lady Liberty”). Since that time, the ACLU-NJ has been monitoring various requests for public documents submitted to the school and has reviewed the responses provided. I am writing to inform you that Lady Liberty has violated several provisions of the Open Public Records Act (“OPRA”), N.J.S.A. 42:1A-1 et seq. and the Open Public Meetings Act (“OPMA”), N.J.S.A. 10:4-6 et seq., and appears to have taken affirmative steps to obstruct access to public information.

A charter school that isn't transparent? Gee, who'd have thought?

The quote above comes from the blog "Charter School Scandals." It's an interesting read, although I'm not prepared to induce a pattern based on the postings. Still, you have to wonder why so many 'formers keep pushing charters when there is a large and growing pile of anecdotal evidence about their problems.

Again - I started my K-12 career in a charter. I do think they have their place. But as a large-scale solution to urban education woes, they leave much to be desired.