Give our kids a fighting chance

Give our kids a fighting chance

Stanford's Center for Research on Education Outcomes last year found that charter students in Illinois gain two weeks of learning in reading and one month in math per year over their district school counterparts, according to a recent Wall Street Journal editorial.

All 10 of Chicago's top-scoring, nonselective high schools on the ACT last year were charters.

Teachers unions, threatened by educational reform offered by charter schools, have spurred Springfield legislators to initiate a burst of anti-charter legislation. Legislators have introduced 11 bills targeting charter schools.

The top union priority is to repeal a nine-member commission that can override local school boards that reject charters.

The time has come for voters to take back from union leaders the education of our children in Illinois. Urge legislators, as they begin their spring legislative session, to support charter schools and give our kids a fighting chance in a competitive global world.

Mike Tennis

Sleepy Hollow