Low-income kids + ed school nonsense = failure.
Ravenswood City School Board in California did not renew the charter of the Stanford New School/Ravenswood City Elementary. The charter school was a project of the Stanford School of Education. According to the New York Times,
In recent years, education departments at several major universities have started charter schools. As Stanford has found out, however, running a public school can be a teaching experience even for the learned.
But Stanford New School has the best of credentials. It was founded by Linda Darling-Hammond, a leader in the school reform movement and President Obama?s adviser on education during his transition. Its blueblood board includes Stanford administrators and professors and Silicon Valley royalty with connections to Google and Cisco. It also includes Maria de la Vega, the superintendent of the Ravenswood City School District ? who recommended that her board deny the charter extension.
Despite the presence of top education scholars with their cutting-edge theories (not to mention per pupil expenditures $3,000 above the state average), the school was a miserable failure. Schools with similar demographics crushed the Stanford New School on state tests.
Unlike district schools, bad charter schools close. Students ill-served by attending the SNS/RCE will have an opportunity to salvage their education by enrolling in a different, more successful district or charter school.
