Lefty Grown Up [George Will on Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown's religious/military charter school]

The NY Post ^ | June 16, 2002 | George Will

[summer]

OAKLAND, CALIF.

Jerry learns to concentrate - on schools.

LONG ago - long before he served two terms as California's governor and made three runs for the Democratic presidential nomination - Jerry Brown, who has won a second term as mayor of this city, was a Jesuit seminarian and, one suspects, a test of the Christian patience of his religious superiors. He recalls that while doing his chores he was prone to flights of philosophizing, to which his supervisors would respond, "Brown, age quod agis."

[wewereright]

I heard Jerry give a talk here in Richmond Va last year and I realized what a huge leadership vacuum we have in this city.

He relayed a story about his plan to redevelop downtown Oakland - the opposition was strong accusing him of trying to "gentrify" the downtown. His response: what do you want - slummification?

[summer]

I'm certain that there is some merit to your point, yet I recoil at it.

Notwithstanding your other points, it's just this in a nutshell: a lot of low income parents would like to have more money. No surprise there. And, when they see a teacher all dressed up, some of these parents think: EASY MONEY HERE WITH THIS TEACHER. NOW, IF I COULD JUST COME UP WITH A COMPLAINT AND A LAWSUIT....

This very real situation, above, is what makes me, as a teacher, "recoil." This situation should be stopped. It could be stopped. But, it doesn't stop. With respect to some of these parents, greed is a fact of life. And, consequently, principals should stop making teachers "dress up" to promote professionalism -- and instead promote professionalism with low cost uniforms that result in: (a) greater security for the campus and students; (b) more pocket money for the teacher because less money is spent on an upscale wardrobe; and (c) fewer parents seeing the teacher as a potential law$uit target.

[summer]

Thanks for your post here, wewereright. You might find the link in my post #98 to be of interest, as it seems Mayor Brown is having a rocky ride with his supporters, despite his success.

[Gophack]

You are absolutely right ... charter schools are public schools. But here in California, they get less money per student than public schools! They are run like private schools without much of the bureaucracy, but the liberal Democrats are trying to impose tougher accountability rules on charters than on standard (and failing) public schools.

Wow, whole charter school districts in Florida! What a great idea!

[summer]

Thanks for your comments here, Gophack! :)