Charter school needed for Oconee's future

I have not studied the 600 page proposal for the Charter School for Math and Science in Oconee County, nor do I claim any expertise in the area of academic innovation other than Governor Sonny Perdue signed some law easing the path for their creation and ultimate integration into the state and local school systems. Adam Thompson of the Athens Banner-Herald wrote a pretty balanced view of the evolution of this possible addition to the local schools. Jmac at Safe as Houses wrote an interesting take on this as well.

All I know is more and more kids are being home schooled even here with one of the best school systems in the area if not the state, which is not a bad thing onto itself, but it is emblematic of a larger dissatisfaction with the public school system in Oconee County (and every where for that matter). There are soccer teams and journalism clubs planned, so I am down with those. The laptops and small teacher-student ratio work well for me. We have a few budding Einsteins who need to be nurtured and this school may be the best solution for that problem.

Any well run, well thought out plan to make our students smarter and better prepared for the 21st century challenges is something I can support. Although I support the idea of this school to prepare Oconee County students to compete on the new world economies, I strongly encourage skepticism, criticism and challenging questions for those who are making this huge undertaking. I have only skimmed the surface of their web site but it looks as if they have their act together on this one. I salute anyone who takes it upon themselves to try and improve the system, whether it is someone like Bob Bishop who basically built a sewer for most of South Watkinsville (a.k.a "the other side of the tracks") or these folks who are taking on the thankless challenge of starting a public school from scratch. I would be most curious about their facilities and location of their classrooms and the quality of the education these kids will receive. I hope the current and forthcoming Boards of Education will give this school a fair chance to excel.