Paul Baumbach, president of Progressive Democrats of Delaware and blogger, has an op-ed in The News Journal the other day which looked at the failing grades our Delaware charter schools have been receiving. Baumbach calls for a feedback loop for the innovation that charter schools are supposed to be using in educating Delaware’s children. He also writes that Delaware’s Department of Education needs to adequately oversee the charter schools and address the desegregation that has occurred. I would disagree with Baumbach that desegregation was an “unintended consequence”e of charter schools. No, that was and has always been the intention. Just like the school voucher system that Republicans consistently wish for.
Baumbach opens his op-ed with a quote from Governor Jack Markell.
How are Delaware’s charter schools affecting our public schools? In 2008 Jack Markell said this about Delaware’s charter schools: “We know about some of the successes, but we also know about some of the big problems: resegregation, the skimming of students, the creaming of students…it’s a big issue and for me a matter of major concern.”
The failing grades received by Delaware charter schools from the National Association of Charter School Authorizers was from 2011. I’d hate to see what would happen to charter schools is this a small issue and a matter of minor concern for Markell.