Columnists

It’s a full-fledged assault now on the charter school petitions from Rocketship and Navigator. Fascinating to watch unfold, there are “hatchet men” who likely expect to be rewarded down the line, teacher’s union petition bullies, master strategic planners and a whole bunch of folks who are wrongly becoming convinced that doom and gloom (lost jobs and the collapse of public education in Morgan Hill) are right around the corner should the County Office of Education approve the charters after the rejections of Navigator and Rocketship petitions to open schools – the latter rejection by the Board of Trustees looming just around the corner. As in any good modern American fight, the attorneys are next in line, salivating on the sidelines with thoughts of sugarplum taxpayer funded treasures dance in their heads. Everyone knows a teacher, of course. It’s the largest employee group in Morgan Hill according to the city – Morgan Hill Unified, 753 employees, Anritsu, 488. So, it’s uncomfortable stuff, especially with holiday parties ahead. But it’s too bad that cooperative learning is preached on a classroom level, but not practiced on an administrative level. The charter schools are agents for change and, if skillfully integrated into MHUSD, could lift the entire district. It’s happening elsewhere in this county, but MHUSD opted for a good old-fashioned all-out Nixonian political the-best-defense-is-a-good-offense assault, and the dust will not settle now for years to come.