I respectfully think you missed the point of the study. The study suggests that communities that fail to produce quality public schools also fail to produce quality charter schools. The charter schools you mentioned may be successful but the study data (if it applies at all) suggests that these schools would be successful as traditional public schools also.

Again, the study data reflects that when adjusted for socio-economic factors, charter schools do not outperform their traditional public school counterparts.

I respectfully think you missed the point of the study. The study suggests that communities that fail to produce quality public schools also fail to produce quality charter schools. The charter schools you mentioned may be successful but the study data (if it applies at all) suggests that these schools would be successful as traditional public schools also.

Again, the study data reflects that when adjusted for socio-economic factors, charter schools do not outperform their traditional public school counterparts.

The public charter schools in Sandy Springs are essentially your typical Fulton County public schools but with a host of student-parent requirements under the charter that demand the kind parental involvement that public school teachers' unions and administrators have typically discouraged. Our Sandy Springs charter schools actually require parents to get involved and volunteer. As a result schools like Riverwood, Ridgeview, Spalding, Woodland and Heards Ferry all have very active parent teacher associations and school foundations that provide additional funding and support for a variety of school activities.

Seven years ago. every real estate agent I dealt with suggested that if I bought a home in Sandy Springs, I would need to send my daughter to a private school. As it turned out Spalding and Ridgeview provided excellent opportunities for my child and teachers and administrators in both schools have encouraged and even demanded parental involvement.

There is a picture in the current edition of the Reporter of the Ridgeview Chorus performing at our nation's Capitol. Nearly 250 students or roughly half the student body participated in this trip to Washington last week where they visited the White House, saw a broadway show at Ford's theater and performed in unique venues including the Pentagon, the Embassy of Indonesia and the Russell Senate Office Building. That is the kind of opportunity available to our kids in the public schools. Clearly the charter schools in Sandy Springs represent one more reason our community is becoming known nationwide as such a desireable community in which to live and raise children.

The public charter schools in Sandy Springs are essentially your typical Fulton County public schools but with a host of student-parent requirements under the charter that demand the kind parental involvement that public school teachers’ unions and administrators have typically discouraged. Our Sandy Springs charter schools actually require parents to get involved and volunteer. As a result schools like Riverwood, Ridgeview, Spalding, Woodland and Heards Ferry all have very active parent teacher associations and school foundations that provide additional funding and support for a variety of school activities.

Seven years ago. every real estate agent I dealt with suggested that if I bought a home in Sandy Springs, I would need to send my daughter to a private school. As it turned out Spalding and Ridgeview provided excellent opportunities for my child and teachers and administrators in both schools have encouraged and even demanded parental involvement.

There is a picture in the current edition of the Reporter of the Ridgeview Chorus performing at our nation’s Capitol. Nearly 250 students or roughly half the student body participated in this trip to Washington last week where they visited the White House, saw a broadway show at Ford’s theater and performed in unique venues including the Pentagon, the Embassy of Indonesia and the Russell Senate Office Building. That is the kind of opportunity available to our kids in the public schools. Clearly the charter schools in Sandy Springs represent one more reason our community is becoming known nationwide as such a desireable community in which to live and raise children.

Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any "magic bullet" in this subject for parents to count upon. My advice is to evaluate schools individually and do not make assumptions about quality simply based on public vs private vs charter.

You can follow my post on this study to download it from: http://www.communityradar.com/story.php?title=45-…