Thursday, March 8, 2012

Choosing Charter Schools


Dr. Steve Perry, a renowned educator, has an educational segment on CNN called Perry's Principles. In his recent segments he has discussed teacher evaluations, Dr. Alonzo's progress in Baltimore city public schools, and paying students to attend school. On one segment he is asked by parent for advice in choosing a charter school. The video brings to light a problem that most parents have which is a lack of knowledge about charter schools or schools in general. Steve Perry founded a public charter school in Hartford, Connecticut so he is considered somewhat of an expert. He offers the advice of completely ignoring any information on the internet about a school. "You must visit the school during a school day."


There are many websites and publications that boast to have the vital information that parents need to make the critical decision of school choice. Most of these websites and publications are missing key factors that affect the success and functionality of a school. Factors such as attendance rate, teacher turnover rate, and suspension rate are missing in these reports. Parents should conduct research and visits to schools. When visiting schools, it is important that parents ask questions that are important to them. If parents want their child to have an exceptional football coach, then they should ask to speak to the athletic director, the football coaches, and the head of football booster club. Dr. Perry insists on parents conducting multiple visits including the open house to get a complete picture of how a school operates.

 The link for the video is below:


T. Sims

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