Won't Back Down II: The Sequel

Charter Manager: Oh, Jamie, I'm sorry to tell you this, but all you did with the trigger was force a change. No one said you would have any say in what that change would be. No one made clear who would make the decisions about how the school would be structured or who would run it. No one had a procedure to appoint a board of directors. I'm sorry Jamie, but when you allowed this school to be converted to a charter, you gave up many of your rights as both a taxpayer and as a parent.

Jamie: Well, I'll go the local school board! They'll force this charter school to have parental involvement!

Geoffrey: My dear Jamie, you didn't think this through, did you? Charter schools offer you "choice"; they do NOT offer you "involvement." If you don't like the way we do things at KSSA, you can "choose" to leave; that's what school "choice" is all about. But your local district, even though it must give us money to run the school, has no say in how we run the school. We are, in effect, our own district now.

Hilarious must read as Jersey Jazzman skewers KIPP and WBD.

http://jerseyjazzman.blogspot.com/2012/09/wont-back-down-ii-sequel.html?spref=tw

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UPDATE FROM LEONIE:

Illuminating radio show from Education Radio: the Truth about #parent trigger http://shar.es/5pc0k

It’s longish but well worth listening to.  Includes interviews w/several parent activists incl. me; most fascinating interview w/ CA parent telling what really happened in Adelanto where parents were tricked into signing petition by Parent Revolution who told them, among other things, it called for cleaner bathrooms! 

When they learned the truth, parents weren’t allowed by the judge to take their signatures back.  Any law that calls for radical changes to be made through signing petitions alone is one that cannot be supported, no matter what it calls for.

My interview was done over the summer before I’d seen the movie; I regret that I said that I’d heard it was well-written etc. when this is far from the truth.  I was unfortunately relying on 2^nd hand accounts.  Lesson learned: never comment on the quality of anything until you’ve seen it yourself!

Leonie Haimson

Executive Director

Class Size Matters