At first glance, the move by Barnstable, Massachusetts to transform all of its traditional district schools to charter schools is a bold and worthwhile reform experiment. The fine print, however, shows that plan to be a bit more, well, complex. In fact, the schools would not become "Commonwealth" charter schools, which are freed from most bargaining, personnel, and contract rules and answer to the state board (a major recommendation of the recent Fordham report Charter School Authorizing: Are States Making the Grade?, at http://www.edexcellence.net/detail/news.cfm?news_id=67). Instead, they would become "Horace Mann" charters, which require the approval of the local school board and teachers' union before they can even file an application for a charter, much less get approved, which is rather like forcing the chickens to ask the fox for permission to flee the henhouse. Still, this article in Commonwealth magazine gives a good view of how even half-hearted reforms like Horace Mann charters can yield results. We hope that Barnstable, having sipped at the freedom-cum-accountability arrangement, will come back for a full swig.
"Unchartered waters," by Michelle Bates Deakin, Commonwealth, Fall 2003 (registration required)