All students deserve a choice

There has been a lot of discussion in the Cape Gazette recently about charter schools in Delaware, driven, in part, by an American Civil Liberties Union complaint. The ACLU raises an alarm that charter schools, which are publicly funded, are resegregating public schools.

In Sussex County, when there is discussion of charter schools, focus goes immediately to the only charter in the county: Sussex Academy.

Charter schools offer a choice. In that respect, they are like independent and church affiliated private schools. The big difference between private schools and public schools - including charter schools - is the usually significant cost associated with attending private schools.

This nation values education so highly that it will not allow cost to be a barrier. In Delaware, that commitment to taxpayer-supported schools, so every child has the opportunity to receive a quality education regardless of a family’s economic status, extends all the way through the first two years of college.

We also value freedom. That’s why we wouldn’t tolerate a government that would force us to attend only one kind of school, ­public or private - and why this nation with its amazing mix of public and private colleges and universities attracts students from all over the world. The element of competition challenges us all - individuals and schools. It sharpens us and helps us advance.

Charter schools offer diverse alternatives to students who may be looking for something different.

They force no one to attend, open their application process to all, welcome diversity without racial quotas, and don’t discriminate based on economic status.

Choice is a good thing, and all students should have a shot at choice. Charter schools expand the possibilities for all students.

If anything, we should focus less on race, more on opportunity, and continue to encourage charters to be aggressive in outreach efforts to enrich the experience they offer with greater diversity.