Charter Schools: Background, Growth, Funding, and Now Pushback
Charter Schools: Background, Growth, Funding, and Now Pushback
By [http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Carol_Josel/308241]Carol Josel
It seemed like a good idea at the time, at least to some...
The charter school concept was first voiced by University of Massachusetts professor Ray Budde back in 1974, but such schools got their true start in 1988 when Albert Shanker, then president of the American Federation of Teachers, called for education reform and touted them as models of innovation.
Minnesota was the first to pass a charter law in 1991; California followed suit the next year, and the movement took off from there. Charter schools now operate legally in 44 states, as well as D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico, with thanks to Republican and Democrat politicians, alike.
Despite operating independently and lacking oversight and accountability, charter schools are considered public schools, with taxpayers footing the bills. Indeed, a 2015 PR Watch piece reports that the feds spent $3.3 billion over the past 20 years "creating and fueling the charter school industry," and yet have no comprehensive list of the receiving schools or how they've spent the monies.
A big charter push came from President Obama and his Education Secretary Arne Duncan who gave billions in tax dollars to the charter school industry. Indeed, in 2016, Obama proclaimed May 1 to May 6 as National Charter Schools Week.
Now Trump is at the helm, along with Ed Secretary Betsy DeVos, and billions of taxpayer dollars keep right on pouring into the school choice movement.
In fact, DeVos recently awarded her home state Michigan with $47 million to open more charters. 80% of those already in place operate for profit-with dismal result. Take Detroit where more than 50% of its students attend a charter. On the latest National Assessment of Educational Assessment, aka The Nation's Report Card, their scores were the lowest in the country-yet again.
Note that Michigan alone spends nearly $1 billion a year on charters, but, as the Detroit Free Press reports, "It fails to hold them accountable."
Speaking of closings, nearly 2,500 charters closed between 2001 and 2013 along, sending some 288,000 students scurrying to find another placement.
Charter School Stats by Niche:
There are now some 7,000 charter schools across 44 states and D.C.;
New Orleans is the first city without even one traditional public school;
56.5% of charters are in a city;
They enroll a total of some of 3.2 billion students, 5.4% of all students.
Of all those charter school kids:
• California has the largest number enrolled: 544,293-8.7% of total public schoolers;
• D.C. has the highest percentage with 34,541 enrolled-42.7% of its total public schoolers;
• Arizona has the second highest percentage of attendees at 18%.
As for the country's 400 full-time virtual variety, the Education Policy Center finds they enroll some 300,000 kids-with only some of the money going toward educating them. The rest goes to the district or a private company, which is free to do as it wants with the money.
For instance, of Pennsylvania's 15 cyber charters schools, blogger Steven Singer reports that 10 of them operated with expired charters-and NOT ONE has ever met state standards. As he puts it: "They should all be closed down."
And he's on to something, as the pushback gains momentum, with such examples as...
1. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 86 charter bills were enacted in 2018. Says NCSL's director Michelle Exstrom, "The debate about [their existence] is over in most states. It's not really a should-we-shouldn't-we-thing anymore. They're starting to really get more to the granular level of, now that we have choice in place, how do we make sure it's actually working and doing what we intended for it to do."
2. Former California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed all efforts to rein in charter schools and hold them accountable, but now, thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom, charters can no longer appeal rejected applications, new ones can be blocked, and existing ones closed down. He's also indicated that more changes may be afoot.
3. West Virginia lawmakers, harking the call of striking teachers, recently rejected a bill that would have opened the state's first charter schools-up to 7 for starters, along with 1,000 education savings accounts so parents of special needs and/or bullied children can pay for private school.
Carol is a learning specialist who worked with middle school children and their parents at the Methacton School District in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years and now supervises student teachers at Ursinus College. Along with the booklet, 149 Parenting School-Wise Tips: Intermediate Grades & Up, and numerous articles in such publications as Teaching Pre-K-8 and Curious Parents, she has authored three successful learning guidebooks: Getting School-Wise: A Student Guidebook, Other-Wise and School-Wise: A Parent Guidebook, and ESL Activities for Every Month of the School Year. For more information and resouces, go to http://www.schoolwisebooks.com and sign up for her education-related blogs.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Charter-Schools:-Background,-Growth,-Funding,-and-Now-Pushback&id=10096791] Charter Schools: Background, Growth, Funding, and Now Pushback
By [http://EzineArticles.com/expert/Carol_Josel/308241]Carol Josel
It seemed like a good idea at the time, at least to some...
The charter school concept was first voiced by University of Massachusetts professor Ray Budde back in 1974, but such schools got their true start in 1988 when Albert Shanker, then president of the American Federation of Teachers, called for education reform and touted them as models of innovation.
Minnesota was the first to pass a charter law in 1991; California followed suit the next year, and the movement took off from there. Charter schools now operate legally in 44 states, as well as D.C., Guam, and Puerto Rico, with thanks to Republican and Democrat politicians, alike.
Despite operating independently and lacking oversight and accountability, charter schools are considered public schools, with taxpayers footing the bills. Indeed, a 2015 PR Watch piece reports that the feds spent $3.3 billion over the past 20 years "creating and fueling the charter school industry," and yet have no comprehensive list of the receiving schools or how they've spent the monies.
A big charter push came from President Obama and his Education Secretary Arne Duncan who gave billions in tax dollars to the charter school industry. Indeed, in 2016, Obama proclaimed May 1 to May 6 as National Charter Schools Week.
Now Trump is at the helm, along with Ed Secretary Betsy DeVos, and billions of taxpayer dollars keep right on pouring into the school choice movement.
In fact, DeVos recently awarded her home state Michigan with $47 million to open more charters. 80% of those already in place operate for profit-with dismal result. Take Detroit where more than 50% of its students attend a charter. On the latest National Assessment of Educational Assessment, aka The Nation's Report Card, their scores were the lowest in the country-yet again.
Note that Michigan alone spends nearly $1 billion a year on charters, but, as the Detroit Free Press reports, "It fails to hold them accountable."
Speaking of closings, nearly 2,500 charters closed between 2001 and 2013 along, sending some 288,000 students scurrying to find another placement.
Charter School Stats by Niche:
There are now some 7,000 charter schools across 44 states and D.C.;
New Orleans is the first city without even one traditional public school;
56.5% of charters are in a city;
They enroll a total of some of 3.2 billion students, 5.4% of all students.
Of all those charter school kids:
• California has the largest number enrolled: 544,293-8.7% of total public schoolers;
• D.C. has the highest percentage with 34,541 enrolled-42.7% of its total public schoolers;
• Arizona has the second highest percentage of attendees at 18%.
As for the country's 400 full-time virtual variety, the Education Policy Center finds they enroll some 300,000 kids-with only some of the money going toward educating them. The rest goes to the district or a private company, which is free to do as it wants with the money.
For instance, of Pennsylvania's 15 cyber charters schools, blogger Steven Singer reports that 10 of them operated with expired charters-and NOT ONE has ever met state standards. As he puts it: "They should all be closed down."
And he's on to something, as the pushback gains momentum, with such examples as...
1. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, 86 charter bills were enacted in 2018. Says NCSL's director Michelle Exstrom, "The debate about [their existence] is over in most states. It's not really a should-we-shouldn't-we-thing anymore. They're starting to really get more to the granular level of, now that we have choice in place, how do we make sure it's actually working and doing what we intended for it to do."
2. Former California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed all efforts to rein in charter schools and hold them accountable, but now, thanks to Governor Gavin Newsom, charters can no longer appeal rejected applications, new ones can be blocked, and existing ones closed down. He's also indicated that more changes may be afoot.
3. West Virginia lawmakers, harking the call of striking teachers, recently rejected a bill that would have opened the state's first charter schools-up to 7 for starters, along with 1,000 education savings accounts so parents of special needs and/or bullied children can pay for private school.
Carol is a learning specialist who worked with middle school children and their parents at the Methacton School District in Pennsylvania for more than 25 years and now supervises student teachers at Ursinus College. Along with the booklet, 149 Parenting School-Wise Tips: Intermediate Grades & Up, and numerous articles in such publications as Teaching Pre-K-8 and Curious Parents, she has authored three successful learning guidebooks: Getting School-Wise: A Student Guidebook, Other-Wise and School-Wise: A Parent Guidebook, and ESL Activities for Every Month of the School Year. For more information and resouces, go to http://www.schoolwisebooks.com and sign up for her education-related blogs.
Article Source: [http://EzineArticles.com/?Charter-Schools:-Background,-Growth,-Funding,-and-Now-Pushback&id=10096791] Charter Schools: Background, Growth, Funding, and Now Pushback
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