Great, short, pithy post by Sara Mead at EdWeek. The gist is, the debate between "charter schools" and "traditional public schools" is beside the point.
"How can public policies ensure a supply of good schools—charter, traditional, or something else—to meet the needs of kids in each community in our city?"
Reminds me of what Deborah Meier once wrote, and I seriously paraphrase: great public schools have more in common with great private schools than they do with poor public schools. And the inverse is true.
The bigger point, though, is our compulsive need to divide things into either/or options. It's a fine approach when there truly are only two options (Obama vs. McCain). Otherwise, it's a great way for people to stop thinking about the details of an argument and simply race for the labels. For the unions in Wisconsin, or against them? Love Sarah Palin or hate her? Think Obama is the Second Coming or Un'Merican Socialist? Yankees or Red Sox? (Oh wait, that may be a fair one ...).
You understand these divisions in the soppy world of national punditry, but when it comes to the next generation of children? Let's leave labels behind and get to the root of the issues.
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