30 Reasons The Massachusetts Charter School Opposition - And John Oliver - Are Wrong

30 Reasons The Massachusetts Charter School Opposition - And John Oliver - Are Wrong
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Over the weekend the late night British comedian John Oliver parodied charter schools, poking fun at politicians and celebrities who support them, serving up misstatements and lies about their success & drawing from anti-charter sentiment that is all too prevalent today.

The problem is, it’s no joke. It’s no laughing matter that people who have never experienced bad education think it’s funny to mock those who desperately need a good education for themselves.

The response from the teachers union and others who are currently engaged in a WAR on charter schools is nothing short of coronation for John Oliver. In Massachusetts, hundreds of anti-charter forces working to prevent the more than 32,000 students on waiting lists to achieve their dreams cackled over social media all night and day about the parody, trying to intimidate voters who might otherwise want to vote to lift their charter cap.

Here’s what I had to say regarding the blind-following-the-blind Twitter opposition to the initiative:

Later today I addressed the people whose every day lives are about the efforts for real change and progress like the ballot initiative in Massachusetts:

You know what it’s like to be in your community and be criticized for doing the hard work it takes to demonstrate results year after year under a microscope, with higher standards and fewer resources than other public schools.

You know what it’s like to teach children who come into your school having been failed for years prior.

You know what it’s like to transform not just a child’s life, but a community, and to have the freedom and flexibility to do your job and create programs that meet the personalized needs of students.

And you know what it’s like to fight for your charter school, year after year, when the opponents challenge you. ...

... You know you’re doing something right when this much attention, even negative, is given to you. Keep it up. But keep fighting, too.

Yours for the kids,
Jeanne Allen, Founder and CEO, and the CER team

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