“Nowhere does the narrative of charter schools as innovative and effective ring as false. . . .”

The editorial in the Wednesday, August 6th edition of the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette is headlined, “Failed experiment: Dismal test scores demonstrate neglect at charter.” and can be found at http://www.jg.net/article/20140806/EDIT07/308069998/1021/EDIT

Just another example to shatter the myth that charter schools provide the magical answer to solving the challenges of public education in America. The truth, of course, is that charters schools and vouchers are placing our most challenged public schools, in rural and urban communities all over the U.S. under ever greater stress. These schools, already challenged to meet the needs of our nation’s most vulnerable children must now contend with fewer resources and without the support of many of the parents who, formerly, could be counted on to support and partner with their children’s teachers.

These parents who were offered the promise of a better education for their children at a local charter school and were able to take advantage of vouchers to help pay for those choices. The vouchers, of course, divert revenue away from what would have been a child’s neighborhood public school, and follow the child on to charter or other private or parochial of the family’s choosing.