Feb
4
#2 Charter Schools – Josh Solomowitz
February 4, 2015 | Leave a Comment
I had a very vague understanding about what a charter school was before these readings. After the readings, though, I think I have a pretty good idea about what they do and how they do it.
For starters, I am pro-charter schools. The public education system, at least for New York, is going down the toilet. This has happened to various states already, most noticeably, California. The state has an agenda that it wants to promote in schools, more specifically: a large emphasis on math and english, with much less focus on history, the arts, and the sciences. These areas are losing funding and cutting teachers, making it impossible for public education students to receive a holistic education. Charter schools, however, may excel in a variety of fields, where students can pick based on what they offer.
Public schools are becoming more and more crowded, with budget cutbacks leading to less allocation of money for much-needed teachers, arts, and sports programs. Soon, students will have to sit on the floor in classrooms just to fit. Charter schools, by their nature, are usually small and have a great student to teacher ratio, almost the opposite of many public schools today. This is very conducive to a great learning environment where students can really be challenged and have the available help if they need it.
As Lee’s article makes mention, I don’t think that having a charter school under the same roof as a public school could possibly lead to a productive environment. This will create jealousy and a loss of moral for the public school students. I think charter schools must be completely separate from their public counterparts. The mention about not being able to use the same bathrooms is certainly ridiculous. If a charter school has the means (especially if they’re getting new furniture, tiles, and brand new bathrooms, among other things), they can secure a new building for themselves first.
No one forces teachers to teach or students to attend these charter schools. There is obviously demand for these schools – the waiting lists for some of them number in the hundreds. Parents want what’s best for their children, and charter schools can give it to them. These institutions should continue to receive private funding – it’s only bettering the school itself. Even if teachers/administrators are being paid more than public school officials, they have their own job and responsibilities and are different from each other.
Charter schools today, for a large part, have been underperforming compared to public schools. Why? This could be a misallocation of resources, lack of experienced teachers, or just being too new to the game. It takes time to establish oneself and learn the ins and outs of the education field – with trial and error. Once enough time passes, I think that many charter schools will only become more competitive and get much better results.
It seems for the most part that a multitude of charter schools, or at least some of the ones that we have looked at, are very college focused. While I don’t agree with this method for a majority of public schools (which is becoming increasingly popular), this is positive for charter schools. These specialized schools usually take in members from a low class and minority background, and these people are in the biggest need of a college education. Education, I believe, is one of the few ways to get yourself and your family out of poverty, by doing well in school and getting a well-paying job later.
My biggest criticism with the charter schools is the lack of regulation. They want to be publicly and privately funded – fine. But there has to be some regulation, especially with any entity that is receiving public funds paid by the tax payers. According to the article by Noguera, many funds were mismanaged or in more severe cases, fraud occurred. This is a big no no, especially with how novel and misunderstood these schools are. Charter schools that have been accused and proven of fraud should either be appointed a regulation committee to oversee it or lose its funding from the state.
I believe that charter schools will become more popular and there will be a large increase in the amount of them. I think they do a great job helping and pushing students to their full potential. They have their issues and concerns, but so does the public education system. There needs to be more oversight with them and some could even be more specialized to fit specific student’s needs too. They’re a big positive for the youth who need something more to hope for.
