David H. Bland: Charters draining public schools

Regarding your Dec. 9 editorial “Charter-style fixes”: We had better look at the fact that the original intent behind this approach has been pushed to the rear of the bus.

This alternative is draining greatly needed funds from our public school system, has shown little transference of innovation and only in exceptional cases has demonstrated an open enrollment process.

Given the quite observable intent of the legislature to privatize our state’s educational system, such a move to expand charter schools is highly suspect.

Finally, the mantra that our public school system is failing is based on the legislature’s simplistic A-F grading system, which does far more to pinpoint poverty and its attendant ramifications than how well our school system is performing.

This story was originally published December 26, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "David H. Bland: Charters draining public schools."