[tlear]

Parents dump the schools with teachers who are members of the union. Union has less money to pay the politicians of a certain party. Of course boards also get paid per student head, student who goes to a school that is not part of that farm (charter, private whatever..) is not bringing in the cash.

It is pretty straightforward economic self interest. I can recommend Sowell's book "Charter schools and their enemies" it lays out the setup quite well.

[jonathankoren]

Literally no parent thinks “What I really want is a union busting school.” That’s not even a top 10000 concern.

Did I send my oldest kid to a charter school? Yeah, for one year. It was a bunch of Teach for America grads that warehoused the kids in front of computers for hours at a time, no PE, and sent kindergartens to detention. (Wtf?!)

So why did we choose this school? One reason: All day kindergarten. We had no idea how bad the school was actually run until like a quarter or two into it.

Fuck Rocketship Schools.

[FeloniousHam]

My son goes to a charter school. I have the exact opposite experience: small school, small class sizes, passionate teachers/administrators, strict dress and phone policies, involved parents.

There are downsides, small population = fewer extracurricular activities, with less participation (esp. sports).

[jonathankoren]

Well, we get all those things except a dress code at the regular public school, but with extracurriculars.