Shame on the Durham leaders who are officially trying to prevent a proposed public charter high school from receiving state approval. The school would focus on math, technology, science, and engineering. Clearly, Durham officials fear competition and innovation, and they fear their traditional public schools won’t measure up. And who loses when these officials refuse to embrace more options and opportunity for Durham’s kids? The children, of course. Check out the very revealing comment from school board member Heidi Carter:
Carter said the proposed charter would work directly against the school board’s plans to transform Southern High School into a STEM school.
“We just believe this charter school in particular is going to compete with some of the innovative programs that we’re trying to get off the ground in a successful way,” Carter said. “We’ll be in a tug of war with them for students, teachers, partnerships out in the park, internship opportunities for students.”
That’s called competition, Ms. Carter. And competition makes everyone step up their game, which is exactly what’s needed.
