The public school monopoly hates competition

It was always only a matter of when, not if, the defenders of the status quo in public education would seek to hamstring their competition.

First, no charter school exists without the permission of a public school district. It is akin to making K-Mart ask Wal-Mart if it locate a store down the road. That's hardly "competition." Second, when K-Mart starts doing well, and Wal-Mart is losing customers, Wal-Mart begins to do whatever it can -- with the power of governemnt -- to shut down K-Mart.

This story in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review shows just how much the government school monopoly hates competition ... even when the competition is coming from one of their own -- a public school district with an innovative superintendent.

The PSEA/PSBA cartel will likely succeed (at least in part) in its jihad against educational alternatives such as cyber charter schools. The reason is twofold: 1) Parents with children who are benefitting from these schools are not an organized lobby, nor do they contribute financially to politicians; and 2) The union/school board lobby is both powerful, well-funded through taxpayer dollars (albeit indirectly), and the committee chairmen in both the House and Senate (Republic and Democrat alike) are union/public school monopoly apologists.