A while back I posted on the recent charter school brouhaha in Michigan, which so disgusted a generous philanthropist that he withdrew his offer of $200 million that was earmarked for the creation of 150 new charter schools.
Jack McHugh, legislative policy analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, has more on the story - and boy, are his comments scathing:
Thanks to the poisonous atmosphere created by a hostile Detroit public school establishment, philanthropist Robert Thompson has decided, with deep regret, that it is impossible for him to donate a $200 million gift to the city's schoolchildren.
The gift would have come in the form of 15 new charter high schools that would have guaranteed a graduation rate of 90 percent. The city's current graduation rate is 67.2 percent, according to the School Evaluation Services Web site created by the financial ratings firm Standard & Poor's.
After seeking legislative authorization for his schools for almost a year, Thompson threw in the towel after the Detroit teachers union threw what can only be described as a tantrum at the prospect of having to compete with charter schools.,,
In response to this pressure from the public school establishment, both the governor and Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick walked away from the Thompson gift and from the broader charter deal...
...Mackinac Center research shows that, despite efforts of the public school establishment to undercut them, performance of students in Michigan's charter schools on the state's MEAP achievement test is improving at a rate dramatically faster than in traditional schools
So why did those primary beneficiaries of the Detroit School District - the employees who collect paychecks from it - sabotage a $200 million gift of hope for young people who have little to hope for under the status quo? Another fact from S&P explains:
"Statewide, only 3.6 percent of Michigan's school districts report higher average teacher salaries than the [Detroit] district."
Posted by kswygert at October 15, 2003 09:35 AM