I know for a fact that Charter schools work. Look, the bottom line is that the (children) should be top priority. We have so much mess in the system until I feel so sorry for today's children. The classes are to big and to much for one teacher. We now give the children anything to eat, we have dumb down P.E. and now have in the last 20 years the biggest elementry kids I've ever seen in my lifetime. First, we have to remember that our children are first, and we may even try to separate the girls from the boys because we are now seeing our male youth drop out at an alarming rate, this right here need to tell america the no child left behind was clearly a joke. Charter,schools work because the classes are smaller and the kids can have a little one on one with their teacher, and we need more male teachers, get out and recruit good teachers and pay them a decent wage. The reason why I said even separating the boys and girls would help because boys learn differently from girls and can get distracted easily and will get bored, they start off just as smart as the girls but between 10 and 12 something happens we need help so we can help our youth.

The results of the Charter school movement are mixed at best. The real question that should be asked is whether or not all children will get a quality education based on this mix. District administrators love charter schools, since they have the same mandates as regular schools without having to micro-manage them (they can micro-manage themselves).

Yet if you are a fan of reaching out to all children, including those with special needs, we have to really look hard at the charter system. Is this merely a place where the "diamonds in the rough" are plucked out and the rest left to fend for themselves in the wilderness?

My understanding of charter schools is that they use methods like smaller classes, ect. that everyone knows should be in ALL schools. Seems like the education establishment has to be bribed or threatened to adopt new methods of teaching. It's the 21st century people-let's move beyond 18th century curriculum.

Charter schools in New Orleans are just as you suggest, they cherry pick students and push out any special needs kids. I do think you are confusing Gifted and Talented programs with magnet schools or maybe it just works different down here. Here in New Orleans the Gifted and Talented program is in any school that has a student that fits the criteria. I work in very poor schools and am a Talent teacher in the G/T program. I go to six schools and work in very small groups with children gifted in visual art. My students are all lower income and a mixture of races. My classes are like having private art lesson. Most of our teacher in the program have MFA's and are working artist. It is a great program and also includes theater and music as well as math and English.

Thanks for the anecdote, but it's not convincing to me. I know when a charter started in NC, the public schools looked at it as their dumping ground. They would tell low-achieving students and their parents about the new charter school and how it would better meet their needs.

So, the new charter school was made up of half low-performing students with behavior and learning problems and the other half was sort of alternative people who moved to the area from other places and didn't really fit in the red-neck culture at the local public school where kids get harassed and beat up if they aren't into hunting and pick-up trucks and football.

We have a choice of 100 different restaurants to go to. Why shouldn't we have a choice of 100 different schools to send our children to? Rich people already have school choice- they can send their children to private school or homeschool or move to a different neighborhood. It's poor families who can't afford those options who need different choices.

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I believe that studies done on the Indiana charter schools indicate that not only do students in the charter schools improve their performance but the students that remained in the public schools improved as well. I could be wrong on the state, but I do know that these studies are out there. Since the creation of the department of education we have dramatically increased the amount of money we spend on education, but we have failed to make any real improvements. Charter schools may not be the answer by themselves, but they can be part of an answer to help all kids get a quality education. It would be wonderful if we could improve the quality of the public schools here in NYC, but many of the things that make charter schools better for students would be impossible to implement in the public school because of concessions won by the unions regarding hours.