RE: [Pen-l] RE: charter schools

["Max B. Sawicky" <sawicky@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

In principle charter schools could be regulated to address all of those concerns.

In practice the stressed school districts have their hands full without trying to

bird-dog the charters. In a sense, charters reduce the management load and

create some potential for the authorities to fix the remaining schools, while

enjoying less accountability for the charters. Iâve seen nothing to indicate that

has actually happened, but it seems possible.

 

The biggest problem is the failures create irreversible harm for the affected

students. Anyone with a child in school can understand the costs of blowing

off half a year.

 

To a fan of workers control, the idea of teachers getting the wherewithal to

invent and manage their own school is appealing. So I wouldnât be too quick

to condemn the whole project in any form.

 

Vouchers are a completely different deal, with nothing to recommend them IMO.

 

 

 

 

 

From: pen-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:pen-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of 123hop@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, February 26, 2009 9:29 PM
To: pen-l@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Pen-l] RE: charter schools

 

The problem with charter schools is that they are financed by public funds but do not have the responsibility of public schools.

--They can pick who attends
--They can pick who they throw out
--They pay less than public schools, demand more time from their teachers, and are also free to hire/fire teachers at will.

--The public schools do not have the choice of refusing any one: not if their special needs, not if they're behavior problems, not if they score low on tests: not for any reason except criminal activity.

To illustrate. My daughter's middle school was always inundated with problem charter school students a few weeks before state exams were adminstered.  Some consequences of this:

1. Exam scores for charter schools rose
2. Exam scores for public schools fell
3. The public schools did not have sufficient time to teach the students that were thrown over the wall to them
4. Everyone unaquainted with the details believed that charter schools were superior

You want private schools, pay. You want public schools, provide sufficient resources to give everyone a decent education.

Charter schools are nothing other than a way of dividing the working class by providing a haven for those parents (usually middle class/educated) who have the means to shop around, secure a place for their children, and not care about anyone else.

What about the children who do not have such parents? What about them?
Related questions: is education a basic democratic right? Is it possible to have a democracy without an educated populace?

Joanna

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