Whitney Tilson's School Reform Blog: Newark's charter schools get an A-plus for education: Opinion

School choice is great – but largely meaningless unless there are HIGH-QUALITY choices, so it's great to see the expansion of such choices in Newark, as this article highlights (it's written by a Newark mom with four kids in four different charter schools):

My children are learning so much more than I ever did. When I attended Newark Public Schools I was not taught the importance of finances and good credit, nor the benefits and importance of going to college and getting a degree. In school, the mindset was that just getting through high school was enough. It wasn't. And thankfully, charter schools offer an entirely different Newark public school education than the one I received.

Some say Newark is a bad place to live, but it is here in Newark that my children are receiving the best education:

…In each school, the teachers care about the students and they are invested in helping them succeed. I love that my children are held accountable for their actions, taught to take responsibility, and taught that hard work hard is the process to get good grades. My children are held to a higher standard in charter schools, where they are taught to push past the thought of being average and work to be excellent. I am grateful that my children have been afforded this opportunity, but I feel strongly that this opportunity should not be something that is afforded, but rather something that is required for and owed to, every student no matter where they live. A ZIP code should not impact whether my child - or any child - has a great educational opportunity. That's just a fact.

Newark's charter schools get an A-plus for education: Opinion