Don’t support charter schools

I was astonished to read The Spokesman-Review’s endorsement of charter schools.

Didn’t you know we already have them? They were invented right here in Spokane about 80 years ago. They are called alternative schools. They exist for each student, one at a time. They have teachers who are energetic, innovative and effective. For decades, they have been where the needs of each student come first, where impossible ideals become practical realities.

A look at charter schools reveals two fatal flaws in your endorsement:

1. Most of them report struggling to achieve success and falling short.

2. For many, their first principle is their profit margin. Many are cash cows for corporations outside our state.

It’s simple. Why spend money on charter schools that, based on their own reports, are not working? And why do this, especially in a time when we don’t fully fund the schools that we have?

I urge voters to avoid signing this initiative. And I urge you, the editors of our newspaper, to reconsider your ill-informed editorial support for a failed idea.

Finally, I urge you to support our alternative schools and traditional schools.

Mike Page

Nine Mile Falls