Terry Ryan

Please help Idaho’s public charter schools do more for our families and children.

Despite the many challenges and constraints, Idaho’s charter schools have earned the right to the operational flexibilities that defined the intent of the original charter school law.

Idaho’s history with segregation, desegregation and charter schools is different than what a national story reported.

It is past time for Idaho to craft a plan that not only better meets the needs of today’s students, but is nimble enough to meet the needs of their children.

The State Department of Education has been providing data to the U.S. News and World Report that is inaccurate and unfair to some of the state’s top high schools.

Now is the time to focus on the trends shaping education in Idaho, and a great place to start building a funding system that will make it more likely our children get the education they deserve.

Idaho Education News reported the Gem State received $21.6 million in federal dollars to open public charter schools. Of that amount, $2.3 million went to charter schools that failed — only 10 percent. The other 90 percent helped launch some of Idaho’s top performing charters.

Survey results are another call for Idaho’s charter school sector and its allies to do more to grow and expand schools that serve larger numbers of economically disadvantaged and minority students.

New money is important for Idaho’s schools. But so too is encouraging educators to try new things for the benefit of students. Idaho’s lawmakers got the balance right this legislative session.