Pub. 2 2012-2013 Issue 1

6 O ne reason the Harry Potter universe is so compelling is that it offers lessons and parallels that ring true in our own. Harry Potter’s school offers lessons from its experience through the series that can help charter schools navigate and avoid the same pitfalls. LESSONS From Hogwarts Hogwarts School of Witchcraft andWizardry is probably a charter school. It’s supported by the public, albeit the magical public, of Great Britain, but operates outside the traditional public education system. You might argue that the school is authorized as a charter by the Ministry of Magic. It has its own 12-member governing board to whom the school director reports. It also has some of the same challenges that charters in Utah have faced—Some tension between the director and the board (Dumbledore is removed in Chamber of Secrets ), teacher turnover (no one stays in the Defense Against the Dark Arts position for more than a year), and a biased media ( The Daily Prophet ). BY LINCOLN FILLMORE