Join us as we present an informal view of the CHARTER vs. PUBLIC School systems within the INNER-CITY.
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Share Your Views on the Charter vs. Public School Debate
Please share your comments, opinions, and insights here on the ongoing debate between the charter and public school systems. We would love to hear your thoughts...
I think it's unfair that the charter schools perform better than the public schools overall and are unable to include all students into their system - therefore, I believe that instead of creating charter schools to account for the mistakes in the public school system, the public school system should be focused on for improvement, instead. Give back the public school's their meagre allowance and allow them to thrive by giving them support instead of criticism. So much has already been done, but so much more can occur if only the public schools were given the opportunity to function as they are supposed to and are able to afford expensive progressions, such as SmartBoards or higher-educated teachers or even just textbooks available for each child. This will improve the public system and will benefit all rather than just the few that benefit now from the charter school system. :)
When I think of public schools, I think of schools that have been serving areas for hundreds of years, providing students with an education. However, charter schools are now an emerging concept. I think of them as kind of an idea of the new millennium, as they are now more prevalent in communities. Charter schools are seen as alternative to public schools. If they are an alternative, what is the issue with public schools that require students to need an alternative?
The ongoing debate has sparked a few documentaries that highlight the lottery process of charter schools. Young children are crying about not being chosen to attend charter schools. That is a lot for a child to bear. The fairness of the lottery continues to be heavily debated.
When putting together the research for our presentation, public school data was easy to find. Charter school data, however, was not. As more numbers come in, it might be easier to compare and contrast the two types of schools.
I believe that this is a great topic to explore and inform everyone about. Charter schools are not very talked about. I quickly learned about them in one class, but that's basically it. I feel that all future teachers should know the similarities and differences between Public and Charter. This blog is really great and I love all of the information I am learning from it.
While I am not fluent in everything dealing with charter schools, I did once see a lecture by Diane Ravitch about the subject. At this lecture she said some surprising statistics. I do not remember the exact number, but in a study of a charter school it was found that a very small percentage of children that entered the school graduated from it. Instead, only the best performing students were kept, which skews the results towards the charter's schools favor. Dr. Ravitch used an analogy that the charter schools were able to pick the best blueberries for their bunch, but the public schools- they didn't get to throw out the bad blueberries. Public schools have to deal with every student- good and bad and do not have the privilege of small class sizes with highly achieving students.
The debate over the Charter vs. Public school systems is one that encompasses many facets of education and one that will certainly affect me as a future teacher. The idea of charter schools being an alternative, or a "savior", to the public school system for students to get a quality education sounds like a great one but then what happens to the kids who have been attending traditional public schools? Those students should not just be left out to dry and forced to "deal" with a failing system in favor of more and more charter schools.
There are concepts that have proven to be beneficial in the charter school system and if they can work for one system, why can't they be applied to the other to help that system grow? Every student, regardless of whether they attend a traditonal public or charter school, should be able to get the adequate instruction and resources that will fluctuate their learning. Charters appear here to stay, and if that is the case, I commend them if they are able to acheive a high success rate amongst their student body. But at the same time, let's not shift focus away from our traditional public schools and their students but rather work on fixing that system first before we think about implementing more charters in the future.
I have made a great effort to look at both sides of this debate. "Waiting for Superman" was a very influential movie. It showed the process of the lottery to get into a charter school and how much of a life changer that experience is. Unfortunately, charter schools only represent about 3% of NYC students. The amount of funding going towards this population of 3% is mind-blowing compared to the other 97% of students. When Diane Ravitch spoke at St. John's last year she made the distinction between charter and public schools very clear. How is it even close to fair to say charter schools outperform public schools when the amount of funding per student is un-proportionate? Not to mention, charter schools graduating numbers are significantly lower than the first year's population. They fail to mention these facts in "Waiting for Superman". Instead, they want more charter schools to open so there will be more lotteries and an even bigger gap between public and charter schools. I strongly believe charter schools are setting back our public schools from meeting their goals.
When I first began researching the topic of charter versus regular public schools I must admit I was more in favor of the newer, nicer, and (supposedly) better performing charter schools. After seeing interviews and films like "Waiting for Superman" and "The Lottery" I was very easily swayed to the belief that charter schools were the answer to all our education systems' problems. Then I read articles like that of Katherine Sprowal's story and how her son Matthew was practically kicked out of the highly acclaimed Harlem Success Academy after the first three weeks of school and started to think. The lottery process alone is a terrible thing for a child and their family to have to experience.
We all know the problems of our public schools; they are publicized in every way imaginable but should failing schools really be closed? Should every teacher that has not produce passing test scores be let go? Should private run (yet public funded) charter schools be the answer to a system that our country has had for centuries? Will national acceptance of charter schools lead to the privatization of education in this country? There are so many questions and very little being done to provide answers. It seems to me that everywhere you turn public schools are being kicked while they're down while another opponent (charter schools), that has taken the shortcut to the finish line, is getting all the praise.
I am certainly not against charter schools but I am also not against public schools. I am a product of the public school system and while I have witnessed its weaknesses I still believe that it is the best path for our country. BUT incorporating practices used by successful charter schools won't hurt either.
I think it's unfair that the charter schools perform better than the public schools overall and are unable to include all students into their system - therefore, I believe that instead of creating charter schools to account for the mistakes in the public school system, the public school system should be focused on for improvement, instead. Give back the public school's their meagre allowance and allow them to thrive by giving them support instead of criticism. So much has already been done, but so much more can occur if only the public schools were given the opportunity to function as they are supposed to and are able to afford expensive progressions, such as SmartBoards or higher-educated teachers or even just textbooks available for each child. This will improve the public system and will benefit all rather than just the few that benefit now from the charter school system. :)
ReplyDeleteWhen I think of public schools, I think of schools that have been serving areas for hundreds of years, providing students with an education. However, charter schools are now an emerging concept. I think of them as kind of an idea of the new millennium, as they are now more prevalent in communities. Charter schools are seen as alternative to public schools. If they are an alternative, what is the issue with public schools that require students to need an alternative?
ReplyDeleteThe ongoing debate has sparked a few documentaries that highlight the lottery process of charter schools. Young children are crying about not being chosen to attend charter schools. That is a lot for a child to bear. The fairness of the lottery continues to be heavily debated.
When putting together the research for our presentation, public school data was easy to find. Charter school data, however, was not. As more numbers come in, it might be easier to compare and contrast the two types of schools.
I believe that this is a great topic to explore and inform everyone about. Charter schools are not very talked about. I quickly learned about them in one class, but that's basically it. I feel that all future teachers should know the similarities and differences between Public and Charter. This blog is really great and I love all of the information I am learning from it.
ReplyDeleteWhile I am not fluent in everything dealing with charter schools, I did once see a lecture by Diane Ravitch about the subject. At this lecture she said some surprising statistics. I do not remember the exact number, but in a study of a charter school it was found that a very small percentage of children that entered the school graduated from it. Instead, only the best performing students were kept, which skews the results towards the charter's schools favor. Dr. Ravitch used an analogy that the charter schools were able to pick the best blueberries for their bunch, but the public schools- they didn't get to throw out the bad blueberries. Public schools have to deal with every student- good and bad and do not have the privilege of small class sizes with highly achieving students.
ReplyDeleteThe debate over the Charter vs. Public school systems is one that encompasses many facets of education and one that will certainly affect me as a future teacher. The idea of charter schools being an alternative, or a "savior", to the public school system for students to get a quality education sounds like a great one but then what happens to the kids who have been attending traditional public schools? Those students should not just be left out to dry and forced to "deal" with a failing system in favor of more and more charter schools.
ReplyDeleteThere are concepts that have proven to be beneficial in the charter school system and if they can work for one system, why can't they be applied to the other to help that system grow? Every student, regardless of whether they attend a traditonal public or charter school, should be able to get the adequate instruction and resources that will fluctuate their learning. Charters appear here to stay, and if that is the case, I commend them if they are able to acheive a high success rate amongst their student body. But at the same time, let's not shift focus away from our traditional public schools and their students but rather work on fixing that system first before we think about implementing more charters in the future.
I have made a great effort to look at both sides of this debate. "Waiting for Superman" was a very influential movie. It showed the process of the lottery to get into a charter school and how much of a life changer that experience is. Unfortunately, charter schools only represent about 3% of NYC students. The amount of funding going towards this population of 3% is mind-blowing compared to the other 97% of students.
ReplyDeleteWhen Diane Ravitch spoke at St. John's last year she made the distinction between charter and public schools very clear. How is it even close to fair to say charter schools outperform public schools when the amount of funding per student is un-proportionate? Not to mention, charter schools graduating numbers are significantly lower than the first year's population. They fail to mention these facts in "Waiting for Superman". Instead, they want more charter schools to open so there will be more lotteries and an even bigger gap between public and charter schools. I strongly believe charter schools are setting back our public schools from meeting their goals.
When I first began researching the topic of charter versus regular public schools I must admit I was more in favor of the newer, nicer, and (supposedly) better performing charter schools. After seeing interviews and films like "Waiting for Superman" and "The Lottery" I was very easily swayed to the belief that charter schools were the answer to all our education systems' problems. Then I read articles like that of Katherine Sprowal's story and how her son Matthew was practically kicked out of the highly acclaimed Harlem Success Academy after the first three weeks of school and started to think. The lottery process alone is a terrible thing for a child and their family to have to experience.
ReplyDeleteWe all know the problems of our public schools; they are publicized in every way imaginable but should failing schools really be closed? Should every teacher that has not produce passing test scores be let go? Should private run (yet public funded) charter schools be the answer to a system that our country has had for centuries? Will national acceptance of charter schools lead to the privatization of education in this country? There are so many questions and very little being done to provide answers. It seems to me that everywhere you turn public schools are being kicked while they're down while another opponent (charter schools), that has taken the shortcut to the finish line, is getting all the praise.
I am certainly not against charter schools but I am also not against public schools. I am a product of the public school system and while I have witnessed its weaknesses I still believe that it is the best path for our country. BUT incorporating practices used by successful charter schools won't hurt either.