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By DEL. JAY KATZEN
R-31st District
I was very encouraged this past week by many calls and letters from our District and elsewhere in the Commonwealth, supportive of Public Charter Schools.
Educators who seek innovation, parents of Special Education youngsters, guardians and parents of those “at risk, ’ and families who want another public education option asked for empowerment to satisfy their children’s requirements, without jeopardizing those of others. Parents of less affluent youngsters—whites and African Americans—appealed for the same freedom of selection as those of means.
Unfortunately, they and many others were denied the opportunity my Charter Schools bill offered. Some opponents argued that Public Charter Schools would Balcanize and destroy Virginia’s education, and that our school system is perfect as it is. Others said that Virginia—historically our Nation’s leader—needs instead to study Minnesota's results before pro-» ceeding. 1 am reminded of General Omar Bradley’s admonition that, “In every day affairs, as in battle, we are given one life to live, and the decision is ours, whether to wait for circumstances to make up our mind—or to act, and in acting, to live.”
My bill also was rejected by adversaries who refuse to believe, however many times we insist, that we are talking only about public school innovation, which would be undertaken voluntarily and shaped only by local option, in full cooperation with and accountable to local school boards. And lastly, this innovation was criticized for providing an increased role for parents in the education of their own youngsters!
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