Re: [LM_NET] TAR: Are you a "No Excuses University" school? Harmony charter school follow up

[BettyTX <bhamilt@HUGHES.NET>]

Interesting information, Lynnette. Thank you. I had wondered about that --  
consistency.

Although this is not a direct library subject, what affects education 
affects our libraries. Since you have been in one of those schools, 
Lynnette, do they have libraries? I, personally, am not in favor of charter 
schools. Thanks for the information.

Betty Dawn
Betty Dawn Hamilton (Using retired years to keep up with current events!)
LMS (Middle & High School)
Former Chair of Texas Association of School Librarians
Former Contributing Editor of "Profession" section, Texas Library Journal
Brownfield, TX
bhamilt@hughes.net


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Perez, Lynnette" <LynnettePerez@my.unt.edu>
Subject: RE: TAR: Are you a "No Excuses University" school? Harmony charter 
school follow up


Harmony Schools' quality is not consistent city to city or campus to campus. 
This is unfortunate. Houston is where the main office is located, so the 
campuses there are the best-run, best organized, and well funded. However, I 
spent some time teaching in one of their campuses in another city, and it 
ran nothing like the "flagship" school in Houston. Harmony is run by Cosmos 
Foundation, which has charter schools all over the country. I believe its 
intentions are noble, yet the people in charge need to do more research on 
curriculum and student development. Using a computer-generated curriculum 
makes it easy for inexperienced & non-certified teachers to plan 
instruction, yet it creates a worksheet-rich environment, where students 
take "Mock" state assessments every two weeks. Perhaps I am just biased 
against worksheets, but I've never seen as much paper used in any public 
school.

By the way, to be a teacher or administrator in a Texas charter school, one 
need only have a high school diploma. And there is no set salary scale. Is 
this consistent nationwide?
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