INCOME & LEARNING

According to the California Charter Sch Association's report - Portrait of the Movement http://www.calcharters.org/portraitofthemovement/, public schools in high income areas do very well, better than the charter schools there, while the charters in low income areas excel compared to their public counterparts..

The idea that there is not much wrong with public schools in rich areas is not new. They can in fact be excellent schools, which attract high-income families to move in and jacks up home prices. As more families that can afford to buy those homes congregate, the home values go higher, and the cycle continues. Soon you have a nice neighborhood of caring parents and schools that attract quality teachers.

I imagine the schools in low social/economic areas are under insurmountable problems - the bureaucracy, the ineptitude, the poor teaching qualities, the lack of parental support, etc.

Charter schools seem to offer a great alternative, as their parents care and participate in the education process.

But how to make the other parents in these neighborhood care and participate is of course a sociological challenge - we are dealing with economy, language barriers, values and parental educational level, all are hard to modify.