charter schools overhyped?

[Anonymous]

Why does it feel like the charter school board is posting on here to boost their schools? They seem like good schools but overselling them sets up high expectations that a lot of them are not meeting. Keep it real, please.

[Anonymous]

I am a huge charter supporter. My kids go to a charter. I think parents who choose charters tend to be more active and want to promote their schools. I post all the time.

[Anonymous]

Me too. I post because I think charters aren't very well understood (I didn't really know how they worked until we were actually in one). Lots of people don't even know that they are public schools, free, and that anyone can attend them. Parents who are new to the system and new to DC may not have even heard of them.

Also, I think it's actually only a small group of charters that have parents who post to DCUM.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does it feel like the charter school board is posting on here to boost their schools? They seem like good schools but overselling them sets up high expectations that a lot of them are not meeting. Keep it real, please.

i don't see this. which schools do you think are over-hyped? the only one that i could making this claim about is yu ying.

i am a charter parent, btw. when i post, i try to be completely honest.

[Anonymous]

I believe tha the % of children in DC PS in charters is greater than 30%. Given this, I don't know why you think they are overhyped. There are a lot of Charters that are solid that never get mentioned here like the KIPP schools.

Parents in DC are looking for alternatives to the historically poor performing neighborhood schools that are not metting their children's needs.

[Anonymous]

Another charter parent here. I can't believe how many of my otherwise educated parent friends are clueless about how charters work. They think they'll get in b/c they live in the neighborhood or that they're kid will test in. They think a school can't be good b/c there are majority AA students. I post here to clue people in to the charter reality.

[Anonymous]

It's buyer beware. Some of the charters might be good. I've worked at two and sent my child to one. One was committing outright fraud with the per pupil funding and the other was simply a mess as well as a cult. I ended up putting my child back into DCPS and then into private.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, I think charters get hyped. I think there's a mentality that "if I have to apply to get in, it must be good." And yet, if you look at test scores in some of the "top" charters, they're not that impressive. Yeah, they're whiter than the average east of the park ES, but I'm not convinced they're really academically superior.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think charters get hyped. I think there's a mentality that "if I have to apply to get in, it must be good." And yet, if you look at test scores in some of the "top" charters, they're not that impressive. Yeah, they're whiter than the average east of the park ES, but I'm not convinced they're really academically superior.

is anyone arguing that they are academically superior to their JKLMO counterparts?

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen that argument made, but your very statement shows that you think they are a JKLMO "counterparts." People often seem to think that charters like Cap City and Two rivers are a better alternative than the "second tier" schools. Shepherd, which many here dismiss, had way higher test scores 2009, and comparable test scores in 2010. So why do people dismiss Shepherd out of hand and recommend that people go charter instead (as stated on the 16th street heights thread)? Is it because the charters are more ***ahem*** diverse?

[Anonymous]

oops, "counterpart."

[Anonymous]

we are in bounds for a JKLM school and at a charter. It is the right place right now for our child.

[Anonymous]

Which school and why?

Anonymous wrote:we are in bounds for a JKLM school and at a charter. It is the right place right now for our child.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yeah, I think charters get hyped. I think there's a mentality that "if I have to apply to get in, it must be good." And yet, if you look at test scores in some of the "top" charters, they're not that impressive. Yeah, they're whiter than the average east of the park ES, but I'm not convinced they're really academically superior.

is anyone arguing that they are academically superior to their JKLMO counterparts?

Yes - the handful that offer some special opportunities which none of the JKLMs have.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

is anyone arguing that they are academically superior to their JKLMO counterparts?

For most of us, that's not the issue -- it's whether they are superior to our inbounds school, or any school that we are likely to get in to out-of-bounds. I have a snowflake's chance in hell of getting my child into a JKLMO school, so I really don't care if charters are "better" than those schools. The charters I have applied to have test scores that exceed my inbounds school, and at least have the advantage of not being tangled in DCPS craziness.

Of course there are good charters and bad charters. Just like there are good DCPS schools and abysmal DCPS schools. At least I have a chance of getting my child into a good charter ...