Actually, I've done a lot of research into this subject. Additionally, my daughter is currently the 'hatchet-man' for the Denver charter schools, and previously worked in that same capacity in Chicago. She tracks EVERY student's success, as well as tracking every teacher's performance. She makes recommendations whether to close or continue certain schools.
The students in the charter schools, at least in Denver, Chicago, Atlanta and Harlem come from horrible situations (i.e., crack-addict mothers, the foster care system, transient lifestyles, etc.). These are definitely not middle class, two-parent households.
By all accounts, these children should fail based upon their environments and lack of parenting.
However, they are succeeding and exceeding.
I, too, believe in PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY, and I truly wish everyone on the planet did, too. Unfortunately, that is not realistic. People are producing children that they have no intention of caring for. The ONLY way to change that cycle is to educate those children, so they can become productive members of society.
Otherwise, we might as well be prepared to pay even more in taxes because the welfare rolls are steadily increasing. Additionally, we'll need to start building more prisons because that's where so many of the uneducated end up.
I believe in Personal Responsibility, but I also believe that EVERY child deserves a quality education. They didn't get to choose their parent(s) or the situation they were born into.
We expect these children to go it alone and then, by some miracle, become productive members of society.
Are we responsible for their situations? No. But will our state and country benefit if we are able to educate even some of these children? Absolutely.
