My own basic reasoning in favor of accepting charter school applications is that doing so would encourage APS staff to explore and develop their ideas about what a good school should be. Arlington has good schools. Our gifted program and our range of programs for second-language learners have been the subject of study and recommendations for change in the last few years. In these areas, professionals differ about what solutions work best. There may be more than one good professional solution to teaching students who do not always do well in our current school settings.
Charter schools grow out of a commitment to a particular vision of a good school.
That is one reason why they work. Opportunity for innovation Charter schools can, under good clear guidelines, provide solutions generated by teachers, administrators and community sponsors such as businesses, universities, neighborhood organizations and parents. In fact, a very high percentage of charter schools nationwide are run by public school staff. Twenty other districts now bus their students to this St. Paul public school charter and pay St. Paul tuition. Four experienced high school teachers in Henderson, MN, run a 125-student high school supported by a large rural district.