Why is it frivolous? Jenks and BA don't have to play by the same rules.
I don't think TPS could end charter schools even if they wanted to. The charter schools in Tulsa are doing well, so, yes, they should keep rolling. But, they have to keep it up, and somebody has to keep their feet to the fire. Some charter schools, in some places, have been nightmares. You can't just hand some company the keys and cross your fingers.
Because the schools are doing well, Jabar is doing a good job representing his constituents in this matter. But, performance is the nature of the beast, and I think that charter schools are always going to get "the business" from their sponsor. It doesn't necessarily mean that TPS hates charter schools and it certainly doesn't mean that they aren't trying to do what is best for the kids. When the government subs something out to a private company, don't you want them to continue to evaluate the performance of that company and weigh it against the value of hiring someone else, or doing it themselves?
Deborah Brown
slipped a little last year; and the sponsor is supposed to find ways to hold them accountable. In that regard, I can see why turning them over to Langston in a year when their API scores dropped 15%, may worry some people on the TPS board. Is now the best time to hand them over to a new sponsor?
There are a lot of people out there who think that giving taxpayer money to any private company to do something that is the government's responsibity is wrong, under any circumstances. Some people are going to see charter schools as a waste of taxpayer money, regardless. I'm not one of them, but when my tax dollars are spent on private companies for things like garbage collection, I expect somebody to be keeping an eye on them. Can't I expect the same accountability when it comes to educating children?
I think it is wrong of you to be ascribing selfish motives to TPS. There are some very great reasons for them to be acting like jerks. Those great reasons range in age from six to 18.