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1. I recommend reading @jonathanchait on charter schools and Democrats. It is worth deep consideration regardless of whether you agree or disagree with his priors. https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/01/unlearning-democrats-answer-on-charter-schools.html
2. I would add some additional reasons liberals became more skeptical of charters. 1st, while schools can narrow gaps, it was never plausible, as many ed reformers argued through 90s/00s, that schools could fully "overcome" the impact of poverty and racism on academic achievement
3. BLM, research, and efforts to end exclusionary and ineffective policing and school discipline practices have helped to put that argument to rest. Many charter schools themselves began to reconsider "no excuses" discipline practices. But trust was lost.
4. As a reporter, I've visited urban neighborhoods where the majority of low-income kids with active adult guidance have fled to charter schools, leaving traditional schools underfunded and serving a high-needs population of homeless children and those with other special needs.
5. This constitutes an emergency for those children, and I always do wonder what the end game is to address it. A near-complete charterization, a la New Orleans, in parts of the country? What quality control and democratic responsiveness will exist in this disruptive scenario?
