Search Results for 'charter schools'
Charter Schools Report Card: “Corruption, fraud and diminished learning opportunities”
Eschaton points out that reality has caught up with Democratic charter school advocates, and it was perfectly predictable. After more than 20 years of growth nationally, it is noteworthy that some of the trend lines for charters are on the decline. This experiment with deregulation has resulted in massive corruption, fraud and diminished learning opportunities […]
Charter Schools Ruled Unconstitutional In Washington State
In the ruling, Chief Justice Barbara Madsen wrote that charter schools aren’t “common schools” because they’re governed by appointed rather than elected boards.
Therefore, “money that is dedicated to common schools is unconstitutionally diverted to charter schools,” Madsen wrote.
Justice Mary E. Fairhurst agreed with the majority that charter schools aren’t common schools, but argued in a partial dissenting opinion that the state “can constitutionally support charter schools through the general fund.”
I always wondered why charters just received tax payer money when they weren’t listed on operational referendums. Consider that districts have to clearly spell out how they will use our money if the referendum passes. Shouldn’t the amount being diverted to current (and future) charter schools be listed? Those figures could result in public schools losing operational funds that the public actually, you know, voted on. Our referendum votes include funding these charters. Shouldn’t charters have to tell us how they plan on using our tax dollars?
Wilmington City Council Votes To Not Let In More Charter Schools
Yes, this is symbolic, but we’ve come a long way.
The Wilmington City Council sent a request to state leaders Thursday night: Don’t allow any more charter schools to open in the city for the time being, and give the city more say over which schools get approved.
Council approved 9-3, with President Theo Gregory absent, a resolution urging the Department of Education not to consider any new charter applications in the city to “allow elected officials and community representatives time to assess the impact of charter schools in Wilmington and throughout the State.”
Impact is the key word and one of the biggest problem with charters – their impact on surrounding neighborhoods and schools isn’t really considered – and even though the new charter law pays lip service to impact, impact alone isn’t enough to stop a charter from entering a community. Try building an addition to your house without community approval. Maybe labeling the addition as a charter school would be the way to go!
Whether or not a community wants a charter in their neighborhood doesn’t matter. As long as a charter follows state law they can pretty much go where they want. Westgate Farms fought against Odyssey Charter moving in. They eventually won by focusing on the historic location. Good thing a cemetery was located there. Otherwise, Odyssey could have moved in – no matter what the surrounding community thought or wanted.
Charter Schools ignore anti-bullying law.
Most public school districts are complying with new state laws aimed at battling bullying, but fewer than half of charter schools have adopted new cyberbullying rules. And some schools are not sufficiently reporting incidents of bullying to parents, according to a report released by Lt. Gov. Matt Denn and the state Attorney General’s Office.
Emphasis mine. Do these Charter Schools, who receive more and more taxpayer money to the detriment of our already existing public schools thanks to dubious legislation passed last year, think state laws and rules do not apply to them? Fewer than half have even adopted the new rules? That’s pretty outrageous.
Charter Schools To Get City of Wilmington Bond Funding?
Inside we have the proposal that is on the agenda for tomorrow’s City Council meeting — an authorization for the City to help with the financing of the MBNA buildings that are supposed to be converted to Charter Schools. But take a look at this: Charter Schools that the City will have no control of and can’t ask for any accountability from are looking for financial help from the City. Even though City residents certainly are paying school taxes already and provide additional funding via the income taxes we pay to the state. Besides, I thought that these schools are meant to operate more cheaply that public schools — which apparently won’t be asked for here, since they are asking for Bond funds from the City to get started.
The Hard Reality Of Charter Schools
Steve Newton doesn’t pull any punches with his latest post entitled: A thought on the Pencader mess that will get me into trouble.
The Failure of Delaware Charter Schools
Paul Baumbach, president of Progressive Democrats of Delaware and blogger, has an op-ed in The News Journal the other day which looked at the failing grades our Delaware charter schools have been receiving.
Is There A Tipping Point When It Comes To Charter Schools?
Charter schools have moved front and center in the education debate, mainly due to the announcements over the past month. First, there was the donated BofA building slated to house charter schools. This school would hold approximately 2,000 students. Then there was the expansion of Newark Charter School. Once fully operational, this school would hold an estimated 2,300 students. Odyssey Charter moved into the spotlight with its expansion plan. Projected enrollment: 1,716. That’s a lot of charter. The question is… Is there a tipping point when it comes to Charter Schools and how they impact traditional Public Schools?
It’s Raining Charter Schools!
Odyssey Charter has been working on a deal for the old Wanamaker’s building and is planning to open a Charter High School in that location. I had heard about this week and was emailing everyone to find out if this was true. Kilroy, as usual, finds the answer: Application to Modify an Exsiting Charter – Odyssey […]
More Charter Schools For Delaware
I have mixed feelings about Charter Schools. My main problem centers on the Charter School of Wilmington and its Admission Placement test and the way their success is touted – as if CSW teachers/staff/administrators have accomplished an amazing academic feat, instead of the truth: If you only accept the best and the brightest students the […]
Delaware Charter Schools: Separate, Unequal
A study conducted by The Western Michigan University Evaluation Center found that Delawares charter school experiment is resulting in a resegregation of schools and the predictable negatives that go along with that separation. Minority schools are under-funded, under-performing and under-staffed. I have always feared that resegregation was the goal of some in the Charter movement […]
DDOE Tells Christina To Close Or Restructure (Charter/Privatize) Its Priority Schools
There are actually three choices on the table: Closure, Charter Conversion/Privatization… and handing all 5 of Christina’s city schools to Red Clay. No matter what, Christina loses these schools.
The Christina school board must choose by Feb. 27 whether to close its three Priority Schools or hand them over to charter schools or other education management organizations, the Department of Education said in a letter to district staff Tuesday.
The letter leaves one possible alternative: If Christina works with the state on the possibility of redistricting schools so that it no longer operates city schools, it could be removed from the Priority Schools saga altogether.
The Delaware Department of Education (DDOE) is very good at closing down schools. Go speak with anyone at these six Priority Schools and ask them when DDOE showed up to “help” them. Surely DDOE has been in these schools for years – since these six schools have been struggling for a long, long time? Surely, DDOE can point to all the support they’ve given these schools over the years? I hear that DDOE didn’t step foot in these schools or offer assistance prior to Governor Markell’s Priority School announcement last fall. But maybe I’m wrong. Maybe DDOE has been working with the six priority schools for years and drastic action was needed because they exhausted all other options?
Wilmington Charter joins club of elite National Blue Ribbon Schools
When your school’s mission is to hoover up all the academic talent in a given county, you should come out on top, so congratulations…I guess. I mean, I don’t have anything against Wilmington Charter. I’m a parent and in every parent’s heart there is a large area of selfishness dedicated to doing the right thing […]
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