While the Durham Public Schools (DPS) will be closed to participate in the May 16 teacher rally in Raleigh, the 6,500 or so children who attend Durham’s charter schools will be in class.

In fact, one of the reasons why Durham charter schools have a hefty 16 percent market share is that charters are responsive to the needs of families.  Recall that the president of the Durham Association of Educators said, ““We recognize the inconvenience, particularly for working-class parents, but our bigger concern is the inconvenience that the General Assembly has been imposing on all of us.”  There is not a clearer statement of choosing the “system” over parents than that.