Paducah Sun gets it about charter schools

In “UNCLEAR, Charter law likely, but what then?” (Subscription), the editors at the Paducah Sun show they understand that when charter school legislation comes to Kentucky, it will be important for the state to have more than one type of authorizer (such as a college) allowed to authorize charters.

If only local school boards are allowed to authorize charters, it is likely that these important schools of choice will never open where they are especially needed like, as the editorial points out, “metro Louisville, where Democrats beholden to teachers' unions remain entrenched as the political majority.”

As the Sun points out, charter schools “are long past due in Kentucky, but hopefully that is about to change.” However, this won’t really happen if legislators accept a watered down, poison pill bill, such as this red herring from Democrat Sen. Gerald Neal, which will allow the teachers unions to continue to trump the best interests of Kentucky’s many under-served minority students.