Thank you for commenting, Caroline. As this story is running on a few local Patch sites (Framingham and Natick among others), the focus here is specifically on this one school. I did take a glance at the links you provided and I didn't notice any mention of McAuliffe, so there would be no reason for us to mention any of the allegations or "scandals" that are listed in your links. Further, if I'm understand your criticism fully, then part of your complaint is that we're not being balanced when reporting on a charter school; we're only reporting the good, not the bad. Well, the first link you provided is someone's personal website who only reports on bad things that have arisen from charter schools. As for your second link, there is a lot of research that points in both directions for different types of kids for various reasons, but that was not the purpose of this story. This story reported on the lottery taking place at this particular charter school. Thank you again for reading.

Why are scores low? Framingham public schools stink. DO NOT send your kid there.

Michael, why do you assume that if a parent doesn't speak English that means he or she can't teach their kids anything? I did not (and do not) speak English at home and I would say my parents did all right in teaching me.

Different times.

They are not going to be able to communicate effectively with teachers on basic stuff, never mind mathematics or science. She cannot speak or understand English. That is going to severely limit things. Not saying the kid isn't going to learn but their potential is limited.

Michael: I am going to agree with Kira on this one. I grew up in a community in Massachusetts with a large Greek and Italian population. Many times, growing up, when I went to friends homes they all spoke a language other than English. The only words I understood was food ... their kids succeeded in school and did well.
I think like those families I knew growing up - from the brief time I spent with that mother Thursday night - she too saw the value of education and was doing everything she could to ensure her son had the best education available. Whether she speaks English fluently is not the issue here.

Susan, that was in the days where immigrants assimilated into society, many do not now. Drive through Framingham and you'll see 6 or 8 satellite dishes on small apartment buildings or 2 or 3 on two family houses. They are there so the residents can watch tv programs in their native and only language. Stop by a house where they are roofing landscaping and you'll often meet people who cannot even say 5 words in English.

Then you have some who are illegally here only to make money then return home. They'll come here, have kids, family, etc. work hard and save everything they can. Then 10 years later they return to their native country and take all their money with them and live very well, never to return here. In towns like Milford, Framingham, etc. the newer ways of immigrants, they are very different than previous ones. Talk to people in the Framingham system. The put a huge financial burden on the system which take money away from other students, increases taxes so the entire town bogs down economically and their require far more time and resources than others. They are a big problem.

Democrat Michele Rhee was completely against school vouchers until she ran the Washington DC school system and saw what a hell hole it was. Now she supports school vouchers.

Why should pubic schools keep receiving money while they put out a pathetic product? The money belongs to individuals, not the teachers unions. The individual students should be able to use their portion of funding to pay for a private or charter school of their choice.

Censorship? Oh, the 1st Amendment is optional, right?

Uggh.

Michael I watched that piece about Michelle Rhee on tv. It was both uplifting (what she was trying to do for the children) to infuriating (that some parents cared more about themselves then there children's education). It was a great piece though.

No you are afforded your 1st Amendment but you abuse it like many other people. You are rude and ot of line 90% of the time. Freedom of speach doesn't mean freedom to be rude. You would think someone almost 65 would have calmed down by now but Michael you make comments to people that are just out of line.

Gwen B - Yeah, in Washington DC former Mayor Fenty was doing a very good job cleaning up the city and fixing the schools. He put Rhee in there and she was really making strides. But she was not in the pocket of the teachers unions so they spent a ton of money and manpower to defeat Fenty and install their pet mayor in his place. The pet mayor promised the union to get rid of Rhee and put a union friendly school administrator in her place.

Also the Washington DC schools were a test case for school vouchers. The congress put some funding in place so poor, mainly black, children could use the voucher money to attend some of the pretegious private schools in DC. Obama and the Democrats killed the funding in 2009 at the request of the teachers unions (national and local). So while Obama sends his kids to the Sidwell Friends elite private school, the kids in DC go to the hell holes of public schools. There were several kids who were at Sidwell because of the voucher program and I believe they had to leave because their poor parents couldn't afford it without the vouchers.

The Democrats mainly are in the pocket of the teachers unions. They put their kids in private schools and let inner city kids get no education and have a terrible future. They would never dream of letting their kids go to those schools.

I'm aware the the policies of websites. The Patch is a an open forum which is nice as It allows for a vigorous conversation. Neighbor is just a wee bit too sensitive.

And correct me if I'm wrong but isn't Patch's policy that you are suppose to use your name for your account? I don't care that they are not because I'm not overly sensitive. :-) Thanks for wishing me well. It's a little snow, nothing to overly hype unless you are a local tv station trying to fill 24 hrs of repetition. Too many whimps, it's not a cat 5 hurricane or tornado. It's a little snow that will be gone in a few weeks.

Since Framingham Patch launched on Dec. 1 2010 - Patch has updated its terms of use policy and NOW does not require individuals to use their real first and last names when posting.
Here, on Framingham Patch, as many of you know, I encourage it.

Neighbor: You may be correct, but I only moderate the comment on this one, very active Patch site.
I review comments before they are posted and I do reject some.
Everyone gets a warning and I expect them to abide by the rules here on Framingham Patch.
I have banned individuals; and I have no problem doing it again, if they don't listen and follow the rules on this site.
I do not allow name calling to other individuals who comment here. You need to stick to the topic of the article/report.
I will note your issue and let a regional/state editor know.
Thanks for commenting.