Cesar Chavez High School Principal Irasema Salcido talks about about the charter school she started and what she hopes for the future of education in the District. On the street, in a kid's life, a charter school is a building with teachers, students, headaches, tragedies and, once in a while, a moment of shining success. Nikole Richardson teaches at a charter school in Washington. She is very good at what she does. To take out a handful of our kids and give them something doesn't improve the lives of most of our kids.
Charters have no training, no certification.
They may be dedicated to teaching black kids, but that's not enough. The advantage we have has to do with resources that the public schools do not have, and parents who find out about the charter schools and do whatever they need to get their kids in. They have supplies and materials. They teach with few, if any, interruptions. They teach where no one loses sight of the main thing, which is teaching and learning.