NYT article on Walton-funded spread of charter schools in DC

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As someone else mentioned earlier, Walton has given millions to DCPS as well. If you want to avoid their money, you might need to leave DC (or go private).

I'm not going to stop supporting both DCPS and charters, but the point I'm trying to make is that if the Walton Foundation is driving down teacher pay as part of their agenda, then that needs to be examined more closely.

We all want better public school options. One of the biggest barriers to getting there is our cultural and political resistance to paying for it. I'll cheer the success of charters with everyone else and hope it continues, but not if the ultimate argument is about union-busting and continued erosion of teacher compensation. Attracting quality candidates, job satisfaction and turnover - these are all things impacting our kids' education.

I did find this article that says DCPS teachers make more. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-traditional-public-school-teacher-pay-is-higher-than-charters/2013/08/19/9fb3edf8-0518-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html

[Anonymous]

I suspect most charters pay less, with some exceptions like a inspired Teaching.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:As someone else mentioned earlier, Walton has given millions to DCPS as well. If you want to avoid their money, you might need to leave DC (or go private).

I'm not going to stop supporting both DCPS and charters, but the point I'm trying to make is that if the Walton Foundation is driving down teacher pay as part of their agenda, then that needs to be examined more closely.

We all want better public school options. One of the biggest barriers to getting there is our cultural and political resistance to paying for it. I'll cheer the success of charters with everyone else and hope it continues, but not if the ultimate argument is about union-busting and continued erosion of teacher compensation. Attracting quality candidates, job satisfaction and turnover - these are all things impacting our kids' education.

I did find this article that says DCPS teachers make more. http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/dc-traditional-public-school-teacher-pay-is-higher-than-charters/2013/08/19/9fb3edf8-0518-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html

I believe the money Walton gave DCPS was for teacher bonuses.

Charters typically pay less than DCPS does, in part because they are funded less by the city (while all public schools get the same per-pupil funding, DCPS gets free overhead services from other city agencies which public charters have to pay out of their per-pupil funding).

[Anonymous]

Walmart pays poverty wages because it can. The reason it can is because that is the market for people with low skills. People have low skills because of bad educational opportunities. I am happy to see money coming into DC to give people outside of nw a chance at a decent education.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I suspect most charters pay less, with some exceptions like a inspired Teaching.

Doesn't ITS have some very young teachers paired with more seasoned teachers? I imagine that their average compensation is actually quite low relative to DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Walmart pays poverty wages because it can. The reason it can is because that is the market for people with low skills. People have low skills because of bad educational opportunities. I am happy to see money coming into DC to give people outside of nw a chance at a decent education.

Why should we be counting on the Waltons for public education. It's the job of the government and they have plenty of obey to do it with.

Parents have worked hard all over the city to build up their neighborhood schools. The city should help them - not send a billionaire in to fund schools outside of their neighborhoods.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Walmart pays poverty wages because it can. The reason it can is because that is the market for people with low skills. People have low skills because of bad educational opportunities. I am happy to see money coming into DC to give people outside of nw a chance at a decent education.

Why should we be counting on the Waltons for public education. It's the job of the government and they have plenty of obey to do it with.

Parents have worked hard all over the city to build up their neighborhood schools. The city should help them - not send a billionaire in to fund schools outside of their neighborhoods.

correction -- Obey = money