Opinions on Charter Schools?

[GamezRule]

I currently attend a Charter School, and I plan to graduate from it.

Taken from Wikipedia:

Charter schools in the United States are primary or secondary schools that receive public money (and like other schools, may also receive private donations) but are not subject to some of the rules, regulations, and statutes that apply to other public schools in exchange for some type of accountability for producing certain results, which are set forth in each school's charter.[1] Charter schools are opened and attended by choice.[2] While charter schools provide an alternative to other public schools, they are part of the public education system and are not allowed to charge tuition. Where enrollment in a charter school is oversubscribed, admission is frequently allocated by lottery-based admissions. In a 2008 survey of charter schools, 59% of the schools reported that they had a waiting list, averaging 198 students.[3] Some charter schools provide a curriculum that specializes in a certain field — e.g., arts and mathematics. Others attempt to provide a better and more efficient general education than nearby public schools.
Some charter schools are founded by teachers, parents, or activists who feel restricted by traditional public schools.[4] State-authorized charters (schools not chartered by local school districts) are often established by non-profit groups, universities, and some government entities.[5] Additionally, school districts sometimes permit corporations to manage chains of charter schools. The schools themselves are still non-profit, in the same way that public schools may be managed by a for-profit corporation. It does not change the status of the school. In the United States, though the percentage of students educated in charter schools varies by school district, only in the New Orleans Public Schools system are the majority of children educated within independent public charter schools.[6]

 

[JohnRM]

There is promise in them.

 

[Ajidica]

I don't really know alot about them, but from what I have read some are good, some are bad, and I personaly don't get the point of them. They seem like publicly funded schools that have acceptance quotas and are able to set their own standards.

 

[Souron]

Bad idea.

 

[Zack]

I don't really know what they are beyond being (essentially) private schools that receive public funding.

 

[GamezRule]

I don't really know alot about them, but from what I have read some are good, some are bad, and I personaly don't get the point of them.

Basically they are regular public schools, but they don't get any funding from local taxes, all their funding comes from the state. They also must have a charter from a University in order to operate. Most public school officials don't like them because they take away money. They usually have some means of alternate education.

Mine for example has a charter with Lake Superior State University (Sault Ste Marie) and emphasizes fine arts, instead of athletics. Elementary schools is also Montessori.

There is also no tuition. There is really nothing private about them, or at least not mine, because our charter is with a public university.

 

[Ajidica]

So essentialy tuitionless private schools recieving state funding?
Color me unimpressed.

 

[GamezRule]

See top post.

So I was wrong, there are corporate chartered schools, those I do not support, as I do not support corporations. Even if I did support corporations, I would not support that.

 

[Yui108]

I like the steps towards privatisation, however it seems to me that simply using tracking in the current public schools system will likely have similar effects and help preserve equality of opportunity for all children.

 

[Brian Shanahan]

If they use public money to fund the business of a private company then they are a bad idea (same goes for the Academies in the UK). Fine you'll get charter schools with truly altruistic people running them, but they will be far less common than the major companies coming in for the quick easy buck and abandoning the school in 10 years.

 

[Perfection]

I agree with whatever Downtown says on the matter.

 

[Dachs]

So I was wrong, there are corporate chartered schools, those I do not support, as I do not support corporations. Even if I did support corporations, I would not support that.

What's wrong with the concept of a corporation? All it is is a legal simplification.

 

[Eat_Up_Martha]

I question the value of specialization of education at such a young age. Shouldn't kids be exposed to a wide variety of different programs and fields so they have a greater breadth of experience when it comes to deciding future careers?
I don't know if 12 or 13 (or whatever) is the best age to be deciding one's future. After all, I'm still waiting on magical powers.

 

[Zelig]

All schools in the US should be put under the care and funding of the US armed forces.

 

[civ_king]

I like it because it allows my school to have Mandarin as a foreign language.

I endorse the military running the nation's PE classes, childhood obesity would probably disappear

 

[downtown]

Like anything else, Charters can be good or bad...just like private schools or public schools. Some charter schools are doing some rather spectacular things with very challenging populations...others are borderline criminal enterprises. No matter what the Gates Foundation, or John Legend, or anybody else tells you,they aren't a silver bullet.

I taught in a public school in the most heavily chartered city in the US (more than 60% of New Orleans kids attend a charter school, and the city plans to make that 100% in the next 10, 15 years), and I currently help out at a charter school in Chicago (I help teach a HS rock band after school).

Lots of charter schools in one city can create some very significant paperwork problems (having 50 de facto school districts in one city is murder for kids who have to transfer, or for the state to check up on special needs kids...which is why nobody is really sure how many students there are in Chicago, DC or NoLa). There are also some serious questions about scalability, and the sustainability of charter's funding networks.

I'm glad the good ones are there. The charter were I work now gives a better education for the 200 or so kids than they would get at their neighborhood CPS school...but there also isn't really a way to expand the school's size, and the city can't really support 50 more schools just like mine.

 

[downtown]

Basically they are regular public schools, but they don't get any funding from local taxes, all their funding comes from the state. They also must have a charter from a University in order to operate. Most public school officials don't like them because they take away money. They usually have some means of alternate education.

Mine for example has a charter with Lake Superior State University (Sault Ste Marie) and emphasizes fine arts, instead of athletics. Elementary schools is also Montessori.

There is also no tuition. There is really nothing private about them, or at least not mine, because our charter is with a public university.

Close. The authorization rules depend on the state...some require a University, but most allow for a public district to be the sponsor, and in some cases, a non-profit. Throughout the 1990s, and in several states/cities today, sponsors basically just signed on the line and ignored the actual school. A few states, like Minnesota, are starting to crack down.

http://www.startribune.com/local/115076714.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

State funding is often not sufficient for a charter, so most have corporate or non-profit revenue streams. Others depend on large Federal Grants. Charters can't charge tuition, but they can charge for "fees", or withhold services that public schools are required to provide (in Louisiana, for example, charters are not required to provide school lunches).

The BIGGEST difference between a Charter and a District School is that charters do not have elected school boards.

 

[madviking]

Well I go to one...

 

[Integral]

Like anything else, Charters can be good or bad...just like private schools or public schools. Some charter schools are doing some rather spectacular things with very challenging populations...others are borderline criminal enterprises. No matter what the Gates Foundation, or John Legend, or anybody else tells you,they aren't a silver bullet.

I taught in a public school in the most heavily chartered city in the US (more than 60% of New Orleans kids attend a charter school, and the city plans to make that 100% in the next 10, 15 years), and I currently help out at a charter school in Chicago (I help teach a HS rock band after school).

Lots of charter schools in one city can create some very significant paperwork problems (having 50 de facto school districts in one city is murder for kids who have to transfer, or for the state to check up on special needs kids...which is why nobody is really sure how many students there are in Chicago, DC or NoLa). There are also some serious questions about scalability, and the sustainability of charter's funding networks.

I'm glad the good ones are there. The charter were I work now gives a better education for the 200 or so kids than they would get at their neighborhood CPS school...but there also isn't really a way to expand the school's size, and the city can't really support 50 more schools just like mine.

You've posted about the 'paperwork' aspect before. Is it really that bad? I only ask because you bring it up in every discussion of charters; I would not have thought it was that bad of an issue, but for you to raise it every time makes me think that I've missed something.

Your other two concerns -- scalability and funding -- are sound. Scalability in particular. I mean, sure, KIPP gets great results in terms of student outcomes, but I don't see the 9.5 hour schoolday and shortened summer school passing the teacher's unions in general. I also don't know if it'd fly with the general public.

 

[downtown]

Forget the teachers union, (remember, lots of places dont have teachers unions!). KIPP couldn't do those things if they had more than 400 students in their building at a time. Their attrition rates are also terrible, something that is actually a big problem with the Storybook Charters (like the Harlem Childrens Zone, or the UNO Network).

I mention the paperwork aspect because it was the one that impacted me the most on a day to day basis. Urban Charter schools often serve a pretty transient population...kids move all the time, or leave schools. Ideally, kids travel with a lot of paperwork...transcripts, contact info...but also IEPs, disciplinary records, classwork samples, etc. Large neighborhood districts are WAY more well equipped to deal with records transfers.

Federal and State laws create a LOT of paperwork requirements, and since charters are all little autonomous school districts, it doesn't make sense for them to hire the HR staff needed to properly handle all the papers. Not having a good handle on paperwork makes projection of student enrollment impossible, which hampers hiring the right number of teachers in time, which can possibly ruin an entire classroom. If your teacher is starting in October, but class started in August, good luck getting diddly done before Christmas.