Dayton Feels the Heat From Charter Schools

By Catherine Gewertz

Dayton, Ohio

On this city's blighted West Side, Residence Park Primary School is only a memory. But inside the pale brick building that it used to call home, a whole new school life has taken root.

A bright banner draped across the front of the building proclaims its transformation from a regular public school to a charter school: "WOW! World of Wonder Accelerated Learning Community School." Inside, hallways and classrooms reflect the exclamation point in the banner: A warm and comfortable style permeates this place, where a greeting usually means a hug. Even the daily, two-hour literacy block is a time for children to curl up next to a teacher or sprawl on the...