Waters of Life School ordered to close. Appeal?

[Rob Tucker]

The state's Charter School Review Panel has voted to close the Puna charter school. There are ten teachers and about 180 students involved.

Attorneys for the CoL School say they will appeal.

Source

This has been an emotional battle with DOE and the state has generally been treating charter schools as 2nd class citizens.

[JerryCarr]

The state DOE indeed sees the charter schools as the biggest threat yet to its oligopoly. Between their ill treatment and the County of Hawaii's foot dragging on some fairly simple zoning changes, it takes monumental effort and exceptionally good luck to have a successful charter school in Puna. At the most recent HPP Board meeting, we heard a report from HAAS on their proposal to open a branch in HPP. They are running into the usual obstructive attitude from the County and the DOE, but they are smart and determined, so they just might make it work.