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January 16, 2013

Huh? There are lots of ridiculously inaccurate things said about charters but this one takes the cake.

“…charters are often not designed with the focus of being responsive to parents…”

That’s funny. I’m not sure how one attracts parents if they are not responsive, but apparently an academic at NYU — and a member of the NY State Board of Regents — thinks otherwise.

Down in Tennessee, The Cornerstone charter school has been in a struggle with the district where it is also running a failed charter. There are rumors about behaviorable tactics being used in the school, including one teacher who took away kids shoes because they were playing with them.

That’s a pretty stupid thing to do under any circumstance, but it hardly has to do with responsiveness to parents, a hallmark of the charter school concept and for which most schools demonstrate huge parental satisfaction.

Here’s Pedro Noguera‘s full quote:
“The kind of reaction you are seeing is not uncommon. There are many communities where that has occurred,” said Pedro Noguera, executive director of the Metropolitan Center for Urban Education at New York University.

“It’s more likely to happen in charters because charters are often not designed with the focus of being responsive to parents, the community or the culture of
the children.”

Right.