More Chicago Charter on the Horizon!?

Well, the announcement that two new charter schools received grant funds is sure to rankle some within the CPS and larger Chicago community.  Today, the Chicago Sun-Times carried a piece detailing how the Bill and Melinda Gates Next Generation Learning Challenges funded two new charters.

As of today, the CPS brass has yet to approve of any new charter commencing with the 2013 school year.  It does seem hard to believe that the Gates would have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars if they didn't have a sense that the charters would fly.

I don't doubt that the Gates and the two charter founders want nothing but the best for children.  However, there are other questions that two new charter would raise in the larger educational setting of the city.

There is already talk of closing a number of CPS public schools.  Why on earth would CPS close schools and, at the same time, open new ones?  Lots of alderman are already questionning this potential scenario.  Also, the charters are designed to prepare students for college.  Sounds great but the schools in Chicago have to do more than merely get children ready for college.  The students have many building blocks that need to be put in place prior to attending college.

Another question that should be raised about the two new charters deals with who will attend and who will be left behind.  Too often, charters siphon off higher achieving students, leaving others, less successful, in the dust. 

Should the charters come into existence, I sense another poke in the stomach to the students, teachers and neighborhood schools who toil everyday to give their very best.

Dick