Kentucky’s education system will get left out as charter networks expand

Education Week reports (subscription?) that several charter school operators are planning to expand to other locations outside of their home states.

Says Education Week:

“Until now, organizations such as Aspire Public Schools and Rocketship Education, both headquartered in California, and BASIS Schools, Inc., of Arizona, which have been held up as worthy of emulation, have focused their work within their states’ boundaries.”

Comments in the article show these charter operators are doing things right.

Per EdWeek:

“In addition to its schools scoring well on state tests, Rocketship Education has also drawn interest from policymakers for its spending practices.”

Thanks to innovative staffing in its “learning labs,” Rocketship saved over $500,000 annually in each of its schools, money that now goes to improving student academic supports and teachers’ salaries, among other things.

EdWeek continues:

“A number of BASIS’ Arizona schools, meanwhile, have been named as some of the nation’s best in national reports, and its academic approach was held up as a model for other schools to emulate in a 2009 documentary film.”

So much for the disinformation campaign, largely funded by the teachers unions, that well-run charters don’t do a better job of education. EdWeek obviously knows better.

Sadly, you won’t have to look for any innovative charter school expansions from either BASIS or Rocketship here in Kentucky. Our short-sighted education system doesn’t allow charter schools even though 41 other states have now jumped on board this school choice option. Well-run charter schools clearly are a good option, one that is starting to show real success in providing better education for students – and doing it at an affordable cost – in those states with more child and parent friendly education policies.

Maybe that will change next year. After all, while Kentucky dithers about charters, other states are jumping on board the bandwagon and better educating more of their kids as a result. And, good messages as the art of charter management matures continue to pile up.