Charter schools give public schools the opportunity to show themselves at their innovative best. Equal education doesn't need to be the same education. We're seeing a movement toward real local control. The city is made up of many neighborhoods and different people with different needs. But, at this stage of our school's development, its building blocks come from the community and the neighborhood.
Artists offer to take children into their studios.
In this way students will develop their talent and, at the same time, see where art comes from and how it is used. Science equipment, from Bunsen burners to lab tables, are offered by a university in the neighborhood. Even the neighboring high school, whose building abuts the middle school, offers students the potential of richer offerings. A major high-tech manufacturer, the city library, a children's science museum are attracted to the light given off by our idea for a school. This kind of community involvement will be as essential to our charter school's education after it's been opened for many years as it is to getting it started.