Arizona schools take a beating in the press on a regular basis. Charter schools in particular are often targeted. Certainly some of it is warranted, some of it, not-so-much.

Both of our kids went to a *fabulous* charter school in Gilbert. It has a waiting list that is the envy of some colleges. Small class sizes, focused in Mathematics, Science and Language Arts. Fantastic, dedicated teachers. It is a model of what charter schools and public education should be.

Then a story like this comes along. Some sick twisted freaks manage to get a 29 year old pervert enrolled as a seventh grader in a Chino Valley charter school (about 90 miles northwest of Phoenix). At first glance, it kind of makes the whole state education system look incompetent.

Let’s try not to rush to judgement and condemn the entire State of Arizona school system (though in listening to the talking heads on some local radio stations, it may be too late). They did catch these nut jobs. How they ever managed to let the guy step foot in a classroom is hard to fathom, but at least the ploy was discovered before Lord knows what happened. It’s not the fault or a flaw of the state education system. There ARE some great schools in Arizona. And yes, there are some lousy ones too. But show me one state where there aren’t some bad schools. I don’t think anyone can. 

The best thing that could come out of this is having these folks locked up for a long, long time. Hopefully Mr. Neil Havens Rodreick II and the others involved enjoy their introductions to Bubba and the Boys down in Florence. It be nice if little Neil ended up on this list, but that’s wishful thinking.

[tags]Arizona schools[/tags]