Charter schools

In class, we keep discussing charter schools. Most of the class didn't know much about charter schools, so Professor Glassman has showed us videos and articles and discussed in class the history of charter schools. He often reminds us that these charter schools are for profit institutions, and that they primarily service for minority and lower income students. Glassman will reiterate the cons so that I feel like he is swaying our classroom into an anti-charter school attitude. I have read many articles and done research on charter schools, and I have also had personal experience with charter schools. While I agree that some companies abuse charter schools to make a profit and that not all charter schools are beneficial for education of students, I think that the concept of a charter school and many of the charter schools are fantastic for children's education.

In Albuquerque, charter schools have been steadily on the rise with their ratings by the state on a scale of A-F improving immensely each year. The proportion of charter schools that receive A ratings is a little over 23% in comparison with overall public schools which only have 8% of their schools receiving an A rating. The quality in education is growing and students' test scores are reflecting this. Also, Glassman mentioned that children with disabilities were theoretically welcomed to attend charter schools, but that they were often turned away because of "lack of services" for the child, which he equated to essentially prejudice and that this method was "dumping" children with disabilities on other schools. However, I worked in Idaho this summer and got very close with a mother of a child in the charter school system. He has behavioral disorders and learning disabilities. His mother wanted to take her son out of the public elementary school and place him in the Pocatello Community Charter School, which she did.

Her son received more attention because his class size was 21, as opposed to the 32 previously, and he also got the individual attention necessary from the teacher. In the public school, none of his teachers had reached out to help him even though he struggled with basic concepts. Reading was really hard for him, and it wasn't until he was in a charter school that a teacher relayed to his mother in a conference that her son might have a learning disability. After follow up with the school psychologist, they found out that he had dyslexia. The teachers in the public school couldn't give him even attention to realize that he might have trouble learning, but the charter school teachers were more in tune with the students. His mother is thrilled with the switch from public to charter school because her son's grades have improved dramatically and her son actually wants to go to school and learn because it isn't such a struggle now that he has an aide for his disability.

Pocatello Community Charter School has grown and increased the quality of education that the students receive. The chart on this website compares PCCS test score to Pocatello Public School test scores to the state of Idaho's test scores: http://www.trulia.com/schools/ID-Pocatello/Pocatello_Community_Charter_School/ If you visit this site and see the chart, the test scores from PCCS dwarf the other schools.

State legislatures have implemented charter schools as an alternative to public schools for parents who were dissatisfied with the public school. Children are not forced to go to these schools, it is just another option for education. If the charter schools are improving the quality of education, the fact that a company is making money is irrelevant. The aim is education, so if a company can make a profit and improve education, then what is the problem with a business making a profit?

I don't mean to discredit Professor Glassman or what we are learning, I just want to question the information we receive. As students, we must always filter what we hear so that we can understand facts versus opinions. I want all of you to understand that charter schools have a good side, then to form a complete opinion about them with the complete information. We can't tell if charter schools will continue to succeed because they are still new, but at the trajectory that they are succeeding, they will continue to service our children. Charter schools shift the discussion of education in our society so that alternatives to our current system are carefully considered. As future teachers, we must know our options as teachers and options for children.


http://www.abqjournal.com/253677/news/schools/charter-schools-a-good-option.html