Charter Schools

AFT: Restoring Shaker's Vision for Charter Schools by Richard D. Kahlenberg and Halley Potter 

(The website version is here)

I didn't know that charter schools were originally suggested by an AFT president.  It was an interesting article about the history of charter schools and how the concept of "free market" and the "competition breeds excellence" mentality skewed his original concept for charter schools:

Under Shanker’s program, proposals for charter schools would be reviewed, evaluated, and approved or rejected by panels that included union representatives, school board members, and outsiders. Charters would be schools of choice—no student or teacher would be compelled to be part of one. And Shanker proposed that the schools be given independence for a five- to 10-year period to prove themselves, because new education ideas need time to be nurtured and cultivated. In order to make these new schools successful, he outlined two critical conditions: that the schools provide their teachers with strong voice, and that the schools educate kids from all walks of life.