It has been a disaster from the start, but it got worse and worse with time. I remember reading that the schools would give the children iPads and other things just so they would sign up for that school. Basically they would bribe the children to get the parents to send them so that they could make more money. And that's only the top of the iceberg …
(PS: I changed the title from "free school" to "charter school" which is the correct english name for what is described in the article.)
Well I don't know what Troed is referring to but my kid in the first grade is doing "Letter of the week" for the fourth time. (He learned them the first time 3 years ago in kindergarten). They also use something called Bornholmsmodellen that is from the last century and has been highly criticized for not encouraging curiosity nor building interest.