The reason the Montessori Charter (and others throughout the Keys) were started and continue to draw new students is because they offer a choice to the traditional classroom setting. Not all parents (or students) want to be taught to take a test; especially since the test is a poor indicator of future student success in the world. At the Montessori Charter in KW, it's success is due in large part to PARENTAL INVOLVEMENT. People who not only get their kids off to school rested and fed and prepared, but who then return to the school to rake leaves, paint fences, spread mulch, help teachers, drive kids to activities. Don't vilify charter schools for being "too white." That's patently absurd and small-minded. The reality is that people are involved and work hard to provide an alternative for their kids and the community. If you want a villain, look no further than that boob many of you elected up in Tallahassee. "Cut that education budget, by God! There's no money in it! Where's the profit?" The fact that the Chinese and most of Europe are eating our lunch will only get worse in the years to come when everybody wakes up and realizes we've shortchanged not only our kids but our country by "educating" an unprepared, illiterate work force. BASTA!

Charter schools ARE public schools, and cannot pick and choose who they enroll as students, just like the 11, soon to be 10, traditional Monroe County schools. But unlike the 6, soon to be 7, (MicroSolutions, opening 8/2012) charter schools, each traditional school has a school technology specialist, who sets up printers, new laptops and in general trouble shoots the school's technology issues. These positions are paid out of the LOCAL CAPITAL MILEAGE, (refer to district budget plan) that the school district collects from ALL property owners, including charter school teachers and parents, who own homes in Monroe County. The School District does not share any of this local capital property tax revenue with the charters. Doesn't seem fair, does it? The school district does not "bank roll" the charters. The State pays the district for each student, as reported throughout the year in periodic "head counts." If the charters have a spike in enrollment, then the state reimburses the charters, ditto for the school district enrollment. What happened last year was that the district chose to ignore the charters' estimates of what they projected for enrollment and went with a more conservative charter budget (translated, we will have more $$$ for ourselves). The district based its own budget on having money for 200 more students, who enrolled in charter schools. This should not have been a surprise. The charters, unlike the district, are transparent, and report the truth.

I remember standing in front of an all-white school board, over ten years ago, and hearing that the enrollment at our Montessori school did not mirror the district. As the school does today, we had advertised openings at grocery stores, including outlets on base, as well as newspapers and other general circulation publications. I had contacted black clergy, to ask them to help identify families who had young children who might benefit from a more self-directed, self-paced learning experience.

I had gone so far as to contact the Department of Justice, to ask if - "in order to acheive a beneficial diversity" - we could automatically admit minority students, bypassing the lottery. The response said that would be illegal.

Charter school enrollment should reflect the population to the same extent that the school board does. The schools present an equal opportunity choice, but it is ultimately up to the parents to make that choice. The school board should look a its own makeup.

It was ironic that one of the women seated on the board had defeated a black man during the previous election, yet I didn't see her stepping aside. She should have. She went on to destroy the Harris School.