The Richmond School Board will meet with representatives from the Patrick Henry Charter School Initiative on May 15 at 5 p.m..

There have been news stories of late coming out of California of townships going bankrupt and schools begging for cash from parents.

Like the religious schools here in Richmond. If you want the shcool to stay open pony up to support it.

The point I am leading up to is this: we are slowly approaching a pay-as-you-go society for education, where basics are provided to all, but those who wish alternatives can find them, where localities do not entirely fund education and parents take up the shortfall.

Any parent who has paid hundreds of dollars for supplies will know this is already happening.  Of course parents of children at St. Christopher’s are lightyears ahead of that particular curve.

There is still opposition in some places to home schooling in spite of abundant evidence it works well.

Standaridized testing can provide benchmarks as to how well alternative schooling functions. If No Child Left Behind only worked as well as it was designed to, that could provide that benchmark evidence.

I’ve got nothing against strong public school systems. I just think we are drifting towards a future requiring very rigorous and specialized education for advanced technical skills where the old schoolyard in the neighborhood will inevitably fall short and fail.

Maybe far short.

I don’t think a math and science school is needed in order to teach math and science. You don’t need advanced computers either. However, I do believe alternative education can provide an environment more conducive to learning than the stale negativity of inferior public schools.

Apologize for that insult. It was sincere not cynical or mean spirited.

If you have ever been in a less than stellar public school at times the learning environment is sketchy. Marginal.  It is what it is.  Not great.

This leaves the school board with the unenviable task of deciding whether to prop up existing schools with all the available talent and resources or whether to go with alternatives. Regardless, parents will want choice.

I think all the followup from the T-D is good reporting.

I was at the 4:30 meeting and it was very disturbing to have the Board asking questions of the Review Committee instead of the PHSI representatives in the audience. Often the answers provided by the Review Committee were incorrect or a misinterpretation of the application (I know, I am on the initiative).  The motion and vote to allow the Board to meet directly with PHSI was hard won; much harder than it should have been.  First and foremost, PHSI is made up of taxpayers of Richmond, and as such, there should not be ANY roadblocks to prevent a direct dialogue and exchange between it’s members and the elected members of the School Board.  I hope the upcoming election will put into office members who are more willing to work with the citizens, not against them.

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