The truth is that when school districts under state control decide to privatize public schools, parents end up with fewer choices - or none. As a result of the SRC's surprise vote last January to allow Mastery Charters to take control of John Wister Elementary School as part of the districts "Renaissance" program, families in that East Germantown catchment area no longer have access to a truly public school. Wister students feed into Pickett Middle/High School, which was taken over by Mastery nine years ago. Unless given special dispensation by district officials, their children must attend a charter school, with its rigid "no-excuses" discipline policy, from kindergarten through senior year of high school. The same dilemna faces those in the Mastery Cleveland Elementary catchment area, where students feed into Mastery Gratz Middle/High School. The only other option is to move, although some parents who have done that found themselves in the same position when their new school was targeted for takeover.