More than 700 charter schools are up and running, meanwhile, in 23 states and the District of Columbia. These are publicly funded schools that, in exchange for being held accountable for results, operate free from many of the rules placed on traditional public schools. President Clinton is calling for 3,000 charter schools to be established by 2000. Charter schools reflect a growing bipartisan mainstream agenda. Vouchers are divisive and detract from your good work and that of other successful public schools.
Timing is everything.
And the adage definitely held true at this conference. The school gained national attention for an incident in which its principal was convicted of assaulting a reporter who had visited the school. The school's board of trustees voted last week to suspend the principal for 30 days without pay and place her on probation. And in his welcoming address for the conference, the Education Department's assistant secretary for elementary and secondary education wasted no time in bringing up the story. Susan Steelman Bragato, the executive director of the California Network of Educational Charters, pointed to the CBS story as an example of the news media's power to shape public opinion.