Sign Up For Our Newsletter

Maryland’s Montgomery County Board of Education has approved its first charter school. It was a long road for Crossway Community, a local nonprofit organization, to open its Montessori-based elementary school, but in recent months it gained the support of Superintendent Joshua Starr and former superintendent Jerry D. Weast.

It’s being hailed as a “historic moment in Montgomery County,” as it should be, but this also provides credence at the national level to the idea that charter schools have a place in more affluent suburbs where test scores and graduation rates are higher.

Even in rich districts, there are students who are not getting the attention or type of education they need. In Montgomery County, those families will now have a choice.

Nationally, this is a battle that is just starting to take shape. New Jersey is one area that is in the midst of its own fight (see The Next Charter Battlefront: Suburbs). Yet, as the charter movement puts up victory after victory in these suburbs, the tide is turning to give families more options.

Charter opponents you have been put on notice.