If charter schools are to be done at all in this state, we must make certain they are done well, so that they don't distract from the hard work of real reform or disappoint the public as yet one more failed experiment in school reform. Now Governor Pataki has unveiled his proposal to bring charter schools to New York State. Nightmares in Phoenix Charter schools are still too new to draw any firm conclusion about their effectiveness.
Reviews tend to be mixed.
But there have been some notorious failures. For example, Arizona has been known as the state that has granted the greatest latitude to its charter schools and provided the widest range of prospective proprietors. It is not surprising to those concerned with the Arizona system that they are experiencing problems. The Citizen 2000 K-12 charter school developed financial difficulties in its first year of operation and by the end of the first year it dropped its high school. Last November, the entire school closed, dislocating some 200 students.