When you have charter schools, you can REALLY innovate

According to former school superintendent Diana Lam,

“What happens when teachers and management have the opportunity to create a contract from scratch? At my school, the Conservatory Lab Charter School in Boston, we recently had that opportunity, and discovered what is possible when there is a shared school mission and no previous binding agreements.”

Ms. Lam continues,

“…too many district educators view them (charter schools) as the enemy. Yet, having served as a superintendent for two large urban school systems—in Providence, R.I., and in San Antonio—I can say that I have never viewed charters as the foe.”

Her charter school’s new working agreement with teachers was built from the ground up, and includes innovative ideas for merit pay and the handling of teacher absences. I blogged about the absences problem in a previous post today.

Now, what happens when you don’t have charter schools? Not nearly as much.