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I am tired of reading headlines about how charter schools have “failed” students (“‘They promised they would be better schools,’” Sept. 15).
It is Minnesota and the media that have failed charter schools.
The original charter school legislation held promise. Gone was seat time and hours for credit. Gone was testing, testing, testing and grades. Students could do outcome-based learning and measure progress using portfolios and narrative evaluations.
We started our charter school, Village School, in 1997. We served mostly students who had never passed a test, who hated sitting in a desk all day and rarely attended. Principals and school officials of the local district school literally dumped these students at our doors, with a parting shot of “good luck!”
Most of our students did well. They raised chickens and goats. They explored the river almost all day, studying the animals and plants, the flow of water through the city’s sewer system.
One student built a stone wall and steps into the woods. He went on to have a career after graduation with the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board.