Jackson Jambalaya

Nice little story in the Wall Street Journal this weekend comparing a charter school and regular public school in the same area.

"At Santa Fe South, the school day is 45 minutes longer; graduation requirements are more rigorous (four years of math, science and social studies compared with three at public schools); and there is a tough attendance policy.

This year, the majority of Santa Fe South's graduates will attend a vocational, two- or four-year college. About one-third of the graduates from Capitol Hill plan to get a higher education.

While neither school is allowed to select students, Santa Fe South can turn them down if it's full. Capitol Hill must welcome anyone who wishes to enroll. Santa Fe South, whose teachers are on a one-year renewable contract, can remove incompetent instructors more easily than Capitol Hill, where teachers are unionized...

At Santa Fe South, 95% of the students are poor enough to qualify for a free or discounted lunch. Ms. Pankhurst has students who work eight-hour shifts into the night and students whose parents have had to return to Mexico.

If Ivan missed school, Ms. Pankhurst called home. If he was disruptive in class, she ordered him to do pushups....

In ninth grade, Laura—who some friends nicknamed "Pocahontas" because of her long, black hair, tan skin and large brown eyes—enrolled at Capitol Hill High School. About 96% of the students are eligible for a free or reduced lunch. Two police officers are assigned to the school, which was once featured on the History Channel series "Gangland."

Mr. Souza, a seasoned public-school administrator, is the seventh principal to head the school in the last decade....

He feels it is unfair to compare Capitol Hill to a charter school like Santa Fe South. For one, Mr. Souza says that he doesn't have the flexibility to discipline employees or teachers like a charter school. Capitol Hill must also enroll "anyone who walks in," he says.

Budget constraints and bureaucratic, political and legal hurdles are another reality, while charter schools operate free of many of the regulations that apply to traditional public schools. "In a perfect world, education would be directed by educators," he says. "When the law, budget and everything else is designed by legislators, this increases the challenges."

On Friday, Oklahoma City's teachers' union, the American Federation of Teachers Local 2309, said no one was available for comment...." Article

Of course, Derek Johnson and Willie Perkins will ignore stories such as these as in their feeble minds, charter schools are a brainchild of the Klan.