Maverick Leads Charge for Charter Schools

[Peter Farruggio <pfarr@cal.berkeley.edu>]

This story is on the front page of the New York 
Times.  It looks very suspicious and too good to 
be true.  The "maverick" is financed by the Gates 
Foundation, his happy teachers have "more 
flexibility" but no tenure, and a principal who 
is working with him has the same name as a 
notorious standardista opportunist who operated 
in Northern California 7 years ago.  Pardon my 
skepticism, but this reads like a propaganda piece to me.

Does anybody know the whole story?

Pete Farruggio


http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/24/education/24charter.html?_r=1&ref=education&oref=slogin


Maverick Leads Charge for Charter Schools

By 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/d/sam_dillon/index.html?inline=nyt-per>SAM 
DILLON
Published: July 24, 2007

LOS ANGELES ­ Steve Barr, a major organizer of 
charter schools, has been waging what often seems 
like a guerrilla war for control of this city?s 
chronically failing high schools.

In just seven years, Mr. Barr?s Green Dot Public 
Schools organization has founded 10 charter high 
schools and has won approval to open 10 more. 
Now, in his most aggressive challenge to the 
public school system, he is fighting to seize 
control of Locke Senior High, a gang-ridden 
school in Watts known as one of the city?s worst. 
A 15-year-old girl was killed by gunfire there in 2005.

In the process, Mr. Barr has fomented a teachers 
revolt against the Los Angeles Unified School 
District. He has driven a wedge through the 
city?s teachers union by welcoming organized 
labor ­ in contrast to other charter operators ­ 
and signing a contract with an upstart union. And 
he has mobilized thousands of black and Hispanic 
parents to demand better schools.

Educators and policy makers from Sacramento to 
Washington are watching closely because many 
believe Green Dot?s audacious tactics have the 
potential to strengthen and expand the charter school movement nationwide.

?He?s got a take-no-prisoners style,? said Jaime 
Regalado, the director of the Edmund G. ?Pat? 
Brown Institute of Public Affairs at 
<http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/california_state_university/index.html?inline=nyt-org>California 
State University, Los Angeles. ?He?s channeled 
the outrage of African-American and Latino 
parents into the public space in a way that?s new.?