Strategic Defunding of Charter Schools

[BridgeTroll]

So what is your solution to "right now"?  Your son is going to failing school x next month.  What does Adam do?

That's a great question, BT. And to be honest, I don't know.

My kid is three and he will be entering primary school next September (reception - the English equivalent of kindergarten). I have to list my five top choices of schools that we can attend (we have to live in the catchment area for the schools). He will then go to the school that he is assigned to - even if it isn't on my list of five.

I suppose my option if he got into a 'bad' school would be home schooling, though I am not sure we can afford that. I also couldn't afford a private school, though I am opposed to private education. And I would never send him to a CoE or RC school (not that we could necessarily get a place in one of those).

I can only guess what I will do or would do. I wish I could give you a solid answer, but I think it would be dishonest of me.

Exactly where I was at a long time ago... never really thought about it.  Until the day came when we were assigned school x... when we thought we were going to A,B, or C.

I'll be honest with you - this sort of thing worries me. But then again, when we were looking for a nursery, we couldn't get into the 'good' ones in our area (due to a baby boom we were part of). We ended up having to 'settle' for the Council-run one in a less salubrious area of the borough. It ended up being brilliant - he loved it and all my concerns appear to have been unfounded.

But it could've been worse, of course. I guess you never know.

True... everything worked for the NRW clan... it may have worked out for mine also... but... as you said... you never know.

The point I am trying to make is the charter school is and should be an option.  It certainly is not a solution to dysfunctional schools but it gives some parents a choice.  Home school is another...

[Non-RedNeck Westsider]

I'll be honest with you - this sort of thing worries me. But then again, when we were looking for a nursery, we couldn't get into the 'good' ones in our area (due to a baby boom we were part of). We ended up having to 'settle' for the Council-run one in a less salubrious area of the borough. It ended up being brilliant - he loved it and all my concerns appear to have been unfounded.

But it could've been worse, of course. I guess you never know.

True... everything worked for the NRW clan... it may have worked out for mine also... but... as you said... you never know.

The point I am trying to make is the charter school is and should be an option.  It certainly is not a solution to dysfunctional schools but it gives some parents a choice.  Home school is another...

Yes.  So far it has.   I'm still far from done, though.  And what has worked for one, I really don't think would have the same effect with the middle two and it's still too early to tell anything about the youngest.  And I'm not suggesting that what works for me would work for anyone else or vice versa, just sharing my experience thus far. 

If we revisit this in about 17 years I'll have a better understanding if my fortune so far was nature or nurture. 

[menace1069]

and then started defunding all of them in order to give money to private charter schools where, for the most part, children wouldn't be exposed to legalized homos, evolution, or sex education of any kind.

also global warming.

What's a "legalized homo?" Is there an "illegalized homo?"
What does that even mean, Steve-O?

[menace1069]

and then started defunding all of them in order to give money to private charter schools where, for the most part, children wouldn't be exposed to legalized homos, evolution, or sex education of any kind.

also global warming.

What's a "legalized homo?" Is there an "illegalized homo?"
What does that even mean, Steve-O?

It used to be illegal to be gay.  Wasn't universally legal for LGBT people to have sex until 2003. 13 years ago.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bowers_v._Hardwick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrence_v._Texas

surprised you didn't know that.

Lots of people were arrested and jailed for it.

The 'gay agenda' hysteria was actually the claim by falwell and the like that legalized homosexuality was being plotted by the queer masters with their complicit fellow travelers in the media.

Coming to convert your children by force in the near future.

Charter Schools and Private schools had a minor boomlet over the issue.

In a private setting, children wouldn't have to be exposed to the evil gays, or hear about their plans for world equality.

I did not know that. I knew that people had issues with the subject, but I didn't realize that it was actually "illegal."
Interesting.

[TheCat]

Good points and thoughtful responses by everyone.


Love them or hate them,  there is no way Charters are going to be dismantled in Florida anytime soon. Our representatives are all for expanding choice in as many ways as possible. Jeb's ed. advocacy groups rank Florida reps by their support of choice based education policies; the majority have high ratings. But, it seems, our officials are more interested in the means and not the end. They think school choice is the issue they are solving. But, "choice" is not the issue. Low - quality education is the issue we are trying to solve.

When it comes to education, no one wants choice. Choice is not the end. It should be the means to the end. This understanding is lost on many proponents of school choice.

If we had to choose between a system that creates 100 mediocre schools or a system that allows for one amazing school per student; no one will argue for more options. That's the problem I have with Florida's approach to education. It's less about the end product and more about the process.

Having said that, the attitudes in this forum arguing against charters are like tea party Repubs on Obamacare "repeal it."

Not going to happen.

So, you might as well start wrangling charters (and healthcare) into a proper beast instead of trying to starve it until it dies.

Charters won't die until district schools become the obvious choice for education.

Like the proposed "public option" for healthcare. If the choice is a no-brainer, charters won't be needed.  I do feel the charter movement is doing what it needs to do on one level, which is force districts to become aggressive and progressive in this fight to educate.

For now, the Florida charter market is skewed to benefit charter schools where they are not necessarily needed, where the district schools are decent. The costs are usually lower to educate in higher-income neighborhoods because less remediation is needed...among other services.

When the opportunity comes to ensure there is more funding for charters that are genuinely non-profit it should be taken. Otherwise, you'll have the continued profiteering that so many are opposed to.

Out of the 600 charters in Florida about 200 are Title 1. The majority of charters in Florida are for-profit schools. Those for-profits are not serving low-income students.

(The "for-profit" part is loop-holey because, I THINK, technically it is against the law for a for-profit company to run a charter school.)

Charters in low-income communities will typically receive the same amount of dollars as the charters in neighborhoods that are not low-income. It's simply not fair and it promotes the wrong incentives. These charters should receive every dollar due to them. Title 1 dollars belong to the student, not the district.