Parents Call For SRC To Approve More Charters
By Molly Daly
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Pennsylvania House Speaker Mike Turzai held a roundtable discussion Thursday to call for the School Reform Commission to approve more charter schools.
The meeting -- held in a classroom at Mastery Charter School's Shoemaker campus in West Philadelphia -- heard glowing reports from parents with kids in high-perfoming charter schools, and entreaties for the approval of new charter applications.
Many of the parents in attendance said they had other children wait-listed, like this father:
"I'm really a public school advocate, and I say 'public school' because it's a 'we the people' thing, and it's something that we control in our communities because we really have to get our public schools back up to par. In the meantime, I really appreciate the alternative and there are choices for everyone."
This mother said it's time to stop talking, and start acting:
"We've had a lot of conversations about what needs to happen. What we now need are verbs in our sentences. Things need to happen now."