There’s a fascinating conversation taking place among members of the Wake County Board of Commissioners and Wake County school board about issues of governance and policy. One of the issues is potential county funding for public charter school construction.  Judge for yourself, based on reporting by the News & Observer, whether board member Susan Evans — she’s the board member who ripped the microphone out of the hands of fellow board member Deborah Prickett when she didn’t agree with Prickett’s comments — understands that charter schools ARE public schools.

On the charter schools issue, Evans charged that many charters are run by private groups and for-profit companies, stating that it wouldn’t be fair to give them money for school construction.

“I’m not sure that taxpayers will think this is a fair way to spend these funds that are so desperately needed to meet the ever-growing capacity needs of our public school system,” she said.

I’ll give Evans the benefit of the doubt and says she knows charters ARE public schools but just doesn’t like them.
Now to the fairness issue. If it is “fair” to fund the construction of traditional public schools, then why isn’t it “fair” to fund the construction of public charter schools that parents are seeking out? Clearly, the Left is afraid of competition and afraid of empowering parents. For the Left, the system trumps the parent. This thinking results in kids being trapped in environments that don’t meet their needs.
Any school that fails to produce students who achieve — whether traditional or charter — should be closed. The problem today is not that some charters will fail and be closed. The problem is that traditional schools that fail remain open.
This discussion is one Wake County needs to have and I look forward to following the debate.