Why Kentucky needs charter schools: Wayne Lewis, Ph.D.

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Wayne Lewis knows a lot about charter schools.

He also knows a lot about the public education situation for Kentucky’s racial minorities, and he isn’t happy with what he sees happening to the state’s children of color.

Lewis isn’t just upset with Louisville’s schools, either. In his comments to the Kentucky Legislature’s Interim Joint Education Committee on Monday, November 10, 2014, Dr. Lewis outlines severe achievement gap issues in the Fayette County Public School District. Lewis points out astonishingly large gaps between white and African-American student proficiency rates in Fayette County’s elementary schools.

Dr. Lewis’ key question to those who continue to block public charter schools in Kentucky is, “What happens to those children if we don’t provide them with alternative options?” Have we gotten to the place where we are more interested in defending institutions that don’t serve children well? Dr. Lewis thinks we have.