Weast's rejection: "little like letting McDonald's decide if Burger King can move in next door"

The Washington Post- Editorial: Montgomery's unchartered waters

MONTGOMERY COUNTY Schools Superintendent Jerry D. Weast is recommending that two applications for public charter schools be rejected. Little surprise there, considering the approval process for starting up these alternative public schools is a little like letting McDonald's decide if Burger King can move in next door. It's yet more evidence that Maryland needs to change its antiquated charter law...

...Nonetheless, we have to wonder just how impartial this process is. How else to interpret the panel's apparent umbrage over Global Garden's suggestion that the traditional public school system does not "cultivate each child's natural curiosity through a vigorous curriculum that emphasizes inquiry, discovery, and authenticity." Montgomery County has an excellent school system, but it is by no means perfect. Surely, there are some children who would benefit from a different learning environment, such as the year-round calendar and extended school-day proposed by Global Garden or the Montessori model with "wraparound" services such as health care advanced by Crossway. Parents should have choices, and education as a whole benefits from healthy competition...