Feb
3
Blog Post #2
February 3, 2015 | Leave a Comment
With education comes many things: economic growth, individual social mobility, and a more stable society. It is an institution that is vital to every community without debate. With debate, however, is how to improve it. Charter schools were proposed as a “a way to bring innovation to schools by freeing them from the regulations that frequently limit and constrain traditional public schools.” From this vision, it seems like a noble idea. More often than not, you hear stories about the public school system failing students. Peeling paint, inadequate textbooks, and lacking teachers are some of the problems faced today. The want to change those problems are supported but the process to do so is very political. Therefore, the vision of charter schools is something I can agree with but, unfortunately, visions are not the same as performance.
The part I found most appalling in the MSNBC article, was when a public school student of PS. 149 was denied entry in the bathroom of the Harlem Success Academy when they share the same facility. It was outrageous and completely reminiscent of the segregation period but except instead of race lines, this was along education lines, which isn’t better at all. I applaud the Success Academy’s achievements but they seem tainted when judged by how their success has contributed to PS 149’s problems. I do not believe that charter schools and public schools should share the same facility. They are part of the same general institution but with different agendas. Charter schools are naturally more strict with formal guidelines and uniforms. They have the money to renovate and provide extra resources for their students and that’s great. But having all of that dangled in front of public students with not even enough money for normal resources is cruel. Taking up rooms used for disabled therapy students is cruel. Denying bathroom usage when they only use half the floor is cruel. It’s like having a McDonalds within a five star restaurant. How could you resist staring at someone else’s steak dinner when you’ve got only a greasy McChicken and small limp fries?
Another reason why I don’t believe charter schools are fair is because they do not serve a majority of those who really need help. The article in the Nation points out that still 85% of students are in public school systems. Charter schools serve probably less than 10 percent but receive a huge chunk of government funding. Reading the story about People’s Prep, a new charter school in NJ, makes this skewed funding seem worth it. Students have gone in with setbacks but have come out with the highest grades and college goals. In the past, only 10-15% handed in completed homework assignments, now at least 60% do. ACT scores had placed 70% of students in the bottom quartile and now only 35% are. It’s admirable to look at this information and claim that charter schools are working but they’re only working for specific students. As the article in the Nation points out, many of the children in charter schools are the “least difficult”. Disadvantaged and “high need” children are supposed to be enrolled in proportionate amounts but these expensive students are found in low numbers in charter schools. Many end up in public schools of course, and it pulls down their performance statistics. While the select few students in People’s Prep have done really well, charter schools are overlooking those who really need education assistance and letting them fall through back down to the public school system. Although charter schools may be guilty of admitting the “cream of the crop”, I do believe that it may not be their fault. There is high competition for charter school seats and with good reason. With the Harlem Success Academy, there are five applications for every seat. The lottery method doesn’t work on a competitive system like this. Every parent wants to put their child in a great school.
The issue of funding and teachers also irks me. How is it that a charter school spokesperson can earn $500,000 a year when she’s barely responsible for less than 10% of students? How can budget shortfalls cause public schools be shutting down left and right, including one near my own neighborhood, when there’s funding to have these new exclusive schools pop up? Where do those public students go? Into other public schools where charter schools can also take up space for free? And what about teachers? Charter schools do away with teacher unions. Even with its less than stellar aspects, teacher unions are critical in fair salary pay and guarantee of substantial working conditions. If the trend is to go toward charter schools, what will happen to the teachers?
In a situation like this, there must be logical and objective thought. The excellence of a few students and the failure of the majority of students is not logical thought. Can we level the playing field with collaboration instead of competition? Instead of rich charter schools versus poor public schools, we should have equally funded schools churning out overall good students. The way I think of charter schools as an honors class but in order for it to work, I do not believe it should be in a classroom of a public school but rather, in another building. All in all, charter schools have exhibited amazing progress but at the suffering of public schools. There can be a way to make this all work but what will it be?
