Some Have Doubts - “Critics of charter schools, often teachers’ unions and their political allies..."

For full article: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/education/02charters.html?scp=1&sq=trip%20gabriel%20education&st=cse

New York Times – Sunday May 1, 2010 front page

Despite Push, Success at Charter Schools Is Mixed

By TRIP GABRIEL

“In the world of education, it was the equivalent of the cool kids’ table in the cafeteria.

Executives from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, McKinsey consultants and scholars from Stanford and Harvard mingled at an invitation-only meeting of the New Schools Venture Fund at a luxury hotel in Pasadena, Calif….Many of those at the meeting last May had worried that the Obama administration would reflect the general hostility of teachers’ unions toward charters, publicly financed schools that are independently run and free to experiment in classrooms. But all doubts were dispelled when the image of Arne Duncan, the new education secretary, filled a large video screen from Washington. He pledged to combine “your ideas with our dollars” from the federal government. “What you have created,” he said, “is a real movement.” …

A More Typical Case

“In Ohio, the Cleveland Arts and Social Sciences Academy is not the kind of charter school that celebrities visit. It is, however, close to the norm for urban Ohio, where 60 percent of charter school students in the eight largest districts attend a school that earned a D or F on its last state report card, according to an analysis by Catalyst Ohio, an independent publication supporting school improvement…

The Ideology

“Since the first one opened in Minnesota in 1992, charter schools have captivated school reformers, originally on the political right but increasingly from the center-left. Largely an urban phenomenon, charter schools in some 72 cities now enroll 10 percent or more of public school students, up from 45 cities three years ago, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools.

Fifty-five percent of enrolled students nationwide are black or Hispanic, the alliance says, and more than a third qualify for free or reduced-price lunches, a common measure of poverty….

Some Have Doubts

“Critics of charter schools, often teachers’ unions and their political allies, say the schools rely on a corps of young teachers who are willing to work 60-hour weeks, but who burn out quickly. In addition, as the United Federation of Teachers reported in January, charters in New York City enroll a smaller share of special education students and those still learning English…