If you read the Daily News and New York Post editorial boards and their education reporters like Ben Chapman and others they would have you believe that charter schools are superior to the neighborhood public schools. They would cite the badly flawed State tests as evidence but ignore the many negative issues associated with the charter schools. Just read my post Here.
Removing the struggling student: First and foremost the more successful charter schools will find ways to remove the academically struggling or badly behaved student from their school by the third grade when testing begins.This weeding out process continues throughout the years so by the time the cohort leaves the school, there is less than a third of the original group left. Furthermore, the successful charter schools don't back-fill the open positions, this ensures that they keep the more successful students without diluting the cohort.
Emphasis on test preparation: Its no secret that the successful charter schools concentrated on teaching to the State tests, especially English and Math. Both subjects can make up almost 50% of the school day. Interest6ingly, until this year none of the charter school students were selected to the specialized high schools since the entrance exam was based on mastery of all subjects, not just English and Math.
High teacher turnover: Few charter school teachers last three years ant there is a 50% turnover yearly. In fact the State, realizing that the charter schools were finding it difficult to hire and keep certified teachers, allowed a third of the staff to be uncertified.
Lack of high needs students: The successful charter schools do not represent the neighborhood demographics and recruit potentially higher achieving students from outside the neighborhood. This is especially true when it comes to English Language Learners and Special Education students. The few of these students the successful charter schools take usually get nothing more than a resource room.
When you look, in depth, at the so-called education miracle you find it's really all smoke and mirrors. Just take a look at what blogger Gary Rubinstein did to show this and can be found in my blog Here..
Nobody gives a fuck our dues go up another $2 on the next check? They are supposed to go up when salary goes up.
ReplyDeleteMy 8/15 check goes over $58, my 9/1 check goes back to $56.10. Sounds like a scam by the UFT.
ReplyDeleteThe simple fact that parents take the time to enroll their kids in a charter school means that the parents have a vested interest in ensuring that their kids will work hard and behave. On the other hand, for a massive number of parents with kids enrolled in traditional public schools, the attitude is that schools exist primarily as a babysitting service.
ReplyDeleteCharter schools will hopefully take over slowly as the years pass. The entire DOE is a cesspool for adults making money. Retired principals, consultants, networks, coaches, etc. All a scam. Imagine if we had none of those titles? Yes, the money would go back into the schools. Eliminate every ridiculous title and bring in the charters. You need a CEO and principals and teachers. Some secretaries, aides, and such. That's it. You don't need the cesspool.
ReplyDelete6:40,
ReplyDeleteWe don't need fine restaurants, we need fast food chains; we don't need orchestras, we have rap; we don't need art, we have grafitti, we don't need conversation, we have texts; we don't need public schools, we have charters. All the money going into those titles would go into one person's pocket, not into schools. Charter are businesses, their purpose is to make money. Visit one or step into a Burger King - it's the same thing.