Reply #82: I'm not yelling, just in caps to diferentiate my comments from yours

[ProudDad]

"Charter schools were brought about under the thought that big government means big spending and that the private sector could streamline the costs (not the education) and do it under a much smaller management for much less with a better education in place."

THERE'S NO FREAKIN WAY THAT THE PRIVATE SECTOR CAN TO IT BETTER THAN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL UNLESS IT'S ALLOWED SIGNIFICANT ADVANTAGES. THE FIRST ADVANTAGE IS THAT THEY CAN CHERRY-PICK BOTH STUDENTS AND TEACHERS...


"The reason I tell you the above information is so you could fully understand the situation when I continue you on to tell you that because the school is dependent on this funding, by having a full class, they must do their best to make the school as attractive as possible. They must do this by being honest because if the parent gets in the school and finds out the school lied, they will walk and so will part of the funding the school gets. If the school is to survive they would then have to work very hard to replace that one student or the many others who found out they had been lied to. It is important that the school is honest and offer a lot of things that will attract and keep the students at the school."

SAME AS PUBLIC SCHOOLS. THE PARENTS CAN WALK AWAY FROM PUBLIC SCHOOLS WITH THEIR STATE FUNDING...

"Charter schools appear to at least be different in the the courses they offer. Around here, they offer the basics plus so much more. K-8 they teach Spanish as well as computers. Middle school electives can include things such as pottery."

"If a student falls behind in a regular public school they usually do not have the staff or resources to do much of anything. At the charter school they are constantly testing to address any issues such as this and they have staff such as teaching assistants who will sit out in the hall and work one on one with these kids. They have very involved parents, in fact, the charter school insists on parent involvement. You are asked to volunteer x-amount of time whether it is in the day or sometimes there are things that can be done on weekends. So sometimes the parents also lend a hand in helping out with children that need extra one on one."

"They have the regular things that the state requires (speech and occupational therapy) but they also offer things like drama, honors choir, band, a debate team, etc......"

YOU MAY BE TOO YOUNG TO REMEMBER BUT WHEN I WAS IN PUBLIC SCHOOL ALL OF THESE THINGS WERE AVAILABLE. OF COURSE, I COME FROM THE DAYS OF JIM CROW. WHEN I WAS A KID THE SCHOOLS WERE SEGREGATED SO THE WHITE KIDS GOT ALL OF THESE THINGS AND THE BLACK KIDS GOT BUPKIS!

(back to normal caps)

With "integration" and white flight, the whites have left and now we've got segregation again. We've got a situation where the schools in the economically depressed areas have to do a hell of lot more with a hell of a lot less...

I drive by the rich white areas and see their thermometer -- "We've raised the extra $250,000 for our high school, thank you!"

I drive by the newly segregated inner city schools and see the misery those kids have to live with...

It's not a level playing field and stripping the public schools of what little they have doesn't help.