n DISCOURSE
a certain methodology. So I don’t know
what kind of information you would get
when you compare this very different set
of unique schools that serve very differ-
ent populations to the traditional system.
In that regard, we need to look at what we
want to measure when it comes to char-
ter schools. The accountability measure
should be how well your theory of action
is working with those students.
Some critics contend that charters
informally encourage de facto segre-
gation, by race, economic class and
even by disability. How do charters
address these concerns?
You belong here.
Digital security
concerns don’t.
• Cybersecurity
• Managed IT / Cloud
• Professional Services
• Disaster Recovery
• IT Infrastructure
You have to look at each charter school a
little bit differently. You can’t cast all of
them in the same light. Charter schools
are public schools, and there are clear
non-discrimination laws in place that
apply to us. The larger issue is around
school choice. I think the perception is
that some parents who are more well-in-
formed will be able to do the research and
find the school option that’s just right
for their child, whereas there may be
other student populations that will not
have that access. That’s not a function
of charters discriminating; it is more of
a function of how we ensure access to the
information around education options
available within the public school sys-
tem. The original idea was that charters
were supposed to actually be a tool to
reform school districts, so there would
be more site-based decision making and
there would be choices within a school
district. But now that we have charters
that ignore districts and districts that
ignore charters, the information around
educational options within that district
falls through the cracks for a lot of our
parent population.
What advice would you give to some-
one looking to start a charter in their
community?
With any charter, you should be moving
toward a vision and not running away
from something. Don’t start a charter
school because you don’t like the school
down the street. Start a charter school
because you have a vision for how you
are going to serve certain types of stu-
dents. Second is to remember that with
the flexibility of chartering there is also
accountability. You need to hold your-
self accountable. You have to set your
goals high and you have to make sure
that you’re going to be achieving them
because it’s a privilege to be able to do
something like this. The third thing is
don’t start a school just to repeat what
already exists. It’s about innovation, and
if you’re not going to take a risk and do
something innovative because you pas-
32
comstocksmag.com | August 201 8