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I’d like to add a few words to the debate on charter schools. I am a retired high school math teacher and a supporter of charter schools. Why? Because our children, our town and our nation need more than what standard public schools and their elected boards are offering.
The proof: Across the commonwealth, including in Greenfield, our charter schools have large waiting lists. Why? Because they offer something of value. Throughout the recent debate in The Recorder, I have been struck by the fact that most of the arguments against charter schools have focused on the financial difficulty they cause for the other public schools.
No one is saying that charter schools are failing to educate or that they are bad schools in some other way. In fact the reason why charter schools are such a success is that they are generally very good schools.
More importantly, the great majority of the students actually enjoy being in them. Why? Because they provide an alternative, exciting and engaging education in a socially and emotionally safe environment. A failure to do this is the only grounds on which they should be challenged.
Meanwhile, those who oppose charter schools on the grounds that they create a financial burden should first recognize that a large segment of the taxpayers want these schools. Then, they should start pressuring our elected officials to change the way all schools are financed, so that all schools can succeed and so that all students can get the education that they choose.
John W. Guenther
Greenfield
