Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Edweek's CMO critic -- Me

Edweek’s Eric Robelen, writing about charter school management companies (CMOs), finds a critical voice. It’s me.

…critics say that CMOs are a far cry from the original idea of charter schools, and that the networks have attracted oversize support from foundations. Michael Klonsky, the director of the Small Schools Workshop in Chicago and a longtime adviser to small-school startups across the country, including some charters, says CMOs go against the idea that grassroots communities should play an integral role in creating charter schools. “Somebody with a big idea about schools and a million dollars from Mr. Gates or Mr. Broad comes into a community and plops it down,” he says.

Nothing I haven’t said a million times, including in our latest book.

P.S.--I still have a problem with specific Edweek articles like this one being underwritten directly by powerful and self-interested philanthropic organizations. In this case, the Wallace Foundation pays for Robelen's piece which touches gingerly on the CMOs reliance on foundation dollars for their very existence.

1 comment:

  1. I don't see anything wrong with Edweek taking foundation money. Is there any evidence that it affects their editorial policy?

    ReplyDelete

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