Charter Association Responds to Sen. Perkins
A final SMACK of misguided NY State Senator Bill Perkins in this point/counterpoint on the NY Charter Assoc web site. Here's the summary:
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
http://blog.nycsa.org/2010/04/charter-association-responds-to-sen.html
Charter Association Responds to Sen. Perkins
The current issue of On Board, the periodical of the New York State School Boards Association, contains a "Point/Counterpoint" section of charter school articles respectively by state Sen. Bill Perkins and by Ken Peterson, the Director of Government Relations for the New York Charter Schools Association (here).
Mr. Peterson confronts directly Sen. Perkins' misplaced and absurd attack on charter schools as "separate and unequal." Peterson writes:
[c]alling charters "segregationist" and introducing legislation to block them, as Sen. Perkins has done, is not constructive and benefits not a single child's educational needs. It's hard to believe such ugly historical rhetoric has entered the charter school realm. Charters are schools of choice mostly by families of students of color. They receive less funding but achieve higher academic results than surrounding district schools.
Interestingly, even as Sen. Perkins labels charter schools in this way, he acknowledges that "Many parents in my district and throughout the City clamor to get their children into charters."
Unfortunately, Sen. Perkins is driven to pile on charter schools in the service of the United Federation of Teachers, which made the first invocation of "separate but unequal" back in late December (here). But the Senator's attacks on charters are groundless and easily refuted, which makes his committee hearing later this month an opportunity for the charter school community to defend its honor and present its positive track record in unapologetic fashion.
Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard
Mr. Peterson confronts directly Sen. Perkins' misplaced and absurd attack on charter schools as "separate and unequal." Peterson writes:
[c]alling charters "segregationist" and introducing legislation to block them, as Sen. Perkins has done, is not constructive and benefits not a single child's educational needs. It's hard to believe such ugly historical rhetoric has entered the charter school realm. Charters are schools of choice mostly by families of students of color. They receive less funding but achieve higher academic results than surrounding district schools.
Interestingly, even as Sen. Perkins labels charter schools in this way, he acknowledges that "Many parents in my district and throughout the City clamor to get their children into charters."
Unfortunately, Sen. Perkins is driven to pile on charter schools in the service of the United Federation of Teachers, which made the first invocation of "separate but unequal" back in late December (here). But the Senator's attacks on charters are groundless and easily refuted, which makes his committee hearing later this month an opportunity for the charter school community to defend its honor and present its positive track record in unapologetic fashion.
Peter Murphy
for The Chalkboard
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| Point/Counterpoint |
On Board Online • March 29, 2010
posted by Whitney Tilson at 6:27 PM
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