From: Dave Cortright
To: Santa Clara County Board of Education
Cc: Santa Clara County Superintendant and Staff
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2012 8:04 AM
Subject: I am pro-charter school, provided the charter school fully complies with charter law
Members of the Santa Clara County Board of Education,
I was dismayed by an email exchange I had with Julia Hoover-Smoot yesterday in which she said I was "eager to defend the status quo in our world of education". Let me clearly and emphatically state that is not true. I recognize there are problems in public education. Since both my father and mother each worked 30+ years as public school teachers (high school math and speech therapy respectively), I was in a unique environment to see this first-hand growing up.
I also recognize the value of charter schools. They empower parents to act and make things better in a system that historically not allowed that. While I advocate identifying and fixing the root issues in our traditional public schools foremost, I still believe charter schools have their place.
However, charter schools are still public schools. While they are afforded more freedoms than traditional public school counterparts, there are still laws that must be followed. I assert that Bullis Charter school is not following charter law in several key areas (47601(b) and 47605(d) most notably). And the thing that troubles me the most is that SCCOE seems unconcerned by this. If you were to present solid, incontrovertible evidence to counter my assertions, I would be satisfied. But I have seen neither that, nor any significant action on your part to redress these legal deficiencies. So I persevere.
I apologize that I have not previously made my position clear. I hope this letter rectifies that. If you have any other doubts about me or my views, please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am always here to talk to you. This issue is a priority.
Thank you for listening. And please stay tuned; there is much more to come.
Respectfully,
·Dave Cortright
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