I knew the people who started the nation's first charter school, The City Academy in St. Paul, Minnesota in 1991. Charters held so much promise then. It is a shame they got co-oped by people looking to make money. They became the darlings of the left for soft standards and by the right for their ability to tip-toe around laws prohibiting religious observances and anti-unionism. They never lived up to that original promise Milo Cutter and her people started at the City Academy.