Why is it so hard to have a charter school approved in MoCo?

[Anonymous]

...because everyone (including the county) thinks the schools are 'so good' or 'good enough'. IMO, purpose of charter school is not to make a BETTER place, but rather to capture a population of students not served in neighborhood schools, or offer a program not offered.

Also, expanding a program where too many qualified students are left out (ex, foreign language magnets)

WDYT?

[Anonymous]

Personally I think charters would just suck resources from neighborhood schools. They might be great if you get in, but if you don't, the charter will have siphoned off some of the MCPS budget, which is already squeezed enough.

[Anonymous]

Who's afraid of charter schools? Montgomery County
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/15/AR2011021504469.html

[Anonymous]

Loss of talented students, loss of resources (incl good teachers) and most of all, loss of control.

[Anonymous]

I would say another reason is that so many charter schools are run by people who have no business running a school. Many of them are incredible and wonderful, but they can also be a roll of the dice. Education is just too important to leave to unqualified people.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I would say another reason is that so many charter schools are run by people who have no business running a school. Many of them are incredible and wonderful, but they can also be a roll of the dice. Education is just too important to leave to unqualified people.

Only problem is that tends to be a no win argument. If you bring in an organization that has run several charter schools the anti-charter spin is that it is privatization and these companies are coming in to bust unions and make money. If you have a group of home grown individuals that have come together to start a school then the argument is that they don't have experience running a charter school. So really the only people with experience running schools that aren't from the outside are ....drum roll ....the existing schools.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I would say another reason is that so many charter schools are run by people who have no business running a school. Many of them are incredible and wonderful, but they can also be a roll of the dice. Education is just too important to leave to unqualified people.

Only problem is that tends to be a no win argument. If you bring in an organization that has run several charter schools the anti-charter spin is that it is privatization and these companies are coming in to bust unions and make money. If you have a group of home grown individuals that have come together to start a school then the argument is that they don't have experience running a charter school. So really the only people with experience running schools that aren't from the outside are ....drum roll ....the existing schools.

I think the money making/union busting argument against charters is valid when you have corporate chains operating charter schools-even if the school itself is non profit. I think though that the reason charters don't take off the way they did in the District or New Orleans is because, while MCPS has many flaws, the schools are not failing the way they were in DC or other public systems.

[Anonymous]

I think though that the reason charters don't take off the way they did in the District or New Orleans is because, while MCPS has many flaws, the schools are not failing the way they were in DC or other public systems.

No way. Reason charters haven't been able to gain ground in MoCo is because the board is doing everything it can to discourage it. There are plenty of parents in the eastern portion of the county that are not wild about the schools in their neighborhoods and would LOVE to have some other options. And if we ended up w/ charters at the MS or HS level, my family might not be looking so hard for a new place to live (viewing our current school zone as totally unacceptable once DD gets to that level but perhaps tolerable at the ES level).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

I think though that the reason charters don't take off the way they did in the District or New Orleans is because, while MCPS has many flaws, the schools are not failing the way they were in DC or other public systems.

No way. Reason charters haven't been able to gain ground in MoCo is because the board is doing everything it can to discourage it. There are plenty of parents in the eastern portion of the county that are not wild about the schools in their neighborhoods and would LOVE to have some other options. And if we ended up w/ charters at the MS or HS level, my family might not be looking so hard for a new place to live (viewing our current school zone as totally unacceptable once DD gets to that level but perhaps tolerable at the ES level).

What makes you think charters are the answer? Only difference I can see is that people likely to enter lottery are able to speak and read English so you wouldn't have as many ESOL kids-would make for easier teaching.

[Anonymous]

Dunno about MoCo specifically, but I can tell you I've read some proposals for charter schools and, well, most of these proposals were blatantly TERRIBLE. As if the folks proposing were full of good intentions but lacked the knowledge to really clearly articulate the vision, curricula, plan for special needs students, accountability structure, assessment plan, the works.

So, in the end, it's possible that most proposals fail because they just... suck.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Dunno about MoCo specifically, but I can tell you I've read some proposals for charter schools and, well, most of these proposals were blatantly TERRIBLE. As if the folks proposing were full of good intentions but lacked the knowledge to really clearly articulate the vision, curricula, plan for special needs students, accountability structure, assessment plan, the works.

So, in the end, it's possible that most proposals fail because they just... suck.

Give us more especifics as to why the proposal from Global Gardens was TERRIBLE.

[Anonymous]

I read the proposal for Global Gardens and thought it was great. It is based on Csikszentmihalyi's theory of emergent motivation/flow which centers on engaging children in meaningful, authentic work in order to increase motivation and achievement in school.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I read the proposal for Global Gardens and thought it was great. It is based on Csikszentmihalyi's theory of emergent motivation/flow which centers on engaging children in meaningful, authentic work in order to increase motivation and achievement in school.

That sounds like so much goobledygook.

[Anonymous]

What makes you think charters are the answer? Only difference I can see is that people likely to enter lottery are able to speak and read English so you wouldn't have as many ESOL kids-would make for easier teaching.

Well they would offer additional options. I heard the lotteries can be tough to "win" so the more options you have for education that parents are happy with (in addition to the existing lottery opportunities), the better.
As to your 2nd point - having fewer ESOL kids in a class with my child who speaks fluent English would be a benefit to my child. This is not PC, perhaps, but it's a reality you acknowledge in that helping those children learn English at the same time they are learnign the rest of the material (a necessary thing since obviously they DO need to learn English) puts much greater demands on the teacher and therefore leaves less time/attention than would otherwise be the case for the rest of the students. So yes, I will admit that if i had the opportunity to get DD into a class w/ fewer ESOL kids than would be in her class at the local school, I would welcome that if it was a good program otherwise as well.

[Anonymous]

I moved here from Florida where schools are horrible to Montgomery County where my kids can actually get an education! Charter schools are not part of the solution. They use public dollars and place them in private hands. They often need to meet less stringent requirements than the public schools and often do not accommodate children with special needs in the same ways. No way!