Regarding the Aug. 8 article "Charters protest budget law": I find it fascinating that the defenders of charter schools continue to insist that charter schools are public. Can just anyone go there?
When charter schools start planning to provide space in their "innovative" programs for underprivileged students, or perhaps when they are required to accept at least 15 percent of their population as low socioeconomic status children, and when they are required to provide reliable transportation for students who qualify for free and reduced-price lunch, maybe then I would be happy with their accepting the public dime.
Some of our charter schools, such as Raleigh Charter, are excellent. But until they have to play on a level playing field with public schools, with innovations that can translate to a high-poverty location, I think calling them "public" is laughable.
