All charters are not created equally

[Anonymous]

Some people hear charter and automatically assume that the quality of education will be better than traditional public school. I have seen some charters that offer rigor and structure but no warmth. I have seen others that were just as out of chaotic and disorganized as some public school classrooms. If people would stop lumping all charters togethers it would make it easier for parents to decide what setting is best for their child. Here is an article on charters in the DC area and how they differ in their academic offerings.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/07/charter-schools-dc-what-works-120222.html#.Va1onotQdFJ

[Anonymous]

That's not really what the article said. It basically went over a bunch of charters and never mentioned how some of them have worse test scores than some DCPS.

[Anonymous]

In my experience, the only people who paint all charters with one broad brush are lazy journalists hacking out for the thousandth time an article in which they express surprise to learn that cumulative charters scores are about the same or a little worse than regular public school scores.

[Anonymous]

Charter school pom-poms.

For the rest of us, if it weren't for the charters, DCPS would be even worse than it already is.

[Anonymous]

In general, charters are a mixed bag, when it comes to school quality.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_the_United_States#Lower_student_test_scores_and_teacher_issues

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:In general, charters are a mixed bag, when it comes to school quality.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_the_United_States#Lower_student_test_scores_and_teacher_issues

In DC, charters are better than DCPS. That's a low bar to clear, but charters have proven they do better at educating the lower-income and minority students.

[Anonymous]

I think it depends on the charter and the DCPS.

[Anonymous]

Anyone who lumps all charters and all DCPS into one mass catagory is just a troll stiring the pot.

Is Janney better than Mundo Verde? Is CMI better than Key? What is the measure you are using to rank these schools? Test scores? Parent satisfaction?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Anyone who lumps all charters and all DCPS into one mass catagory is just a troll stiring the pot.

Is Janney better than Mundo Verde? Is CMI better than Key? What is the measure you are using to rank these schools? Test scores? Parent satisfaction?

Aren't CMI and Mundo Verde brand new, untested schools?

[Anonymous]

Yes - I have never understood the claims that new and untested schools are high achieving and produce great results. I know families at both of these schools and while most (but not all) of them are mostly satisfied and are not leaving the schools, as they have moved beyond PreK, they have become much more circumspect and those with money are spending a healthy amount on outside tutoring. This does not mean those schools are not great - and I do not intend to imply this. Personally, I want every single public and public charter school in DC to be great. However, a school could be great but not be the right place for your particular child for a variety of reasons (size, language focus if that is not your kid's thing, lack of enough physical movement time, lack of a science focus, etc.).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:In general, charters are a mixed bag, when it comes to school quality.


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_schools_in_the_United_States#Lower_student_test_scores_and_teacher_issues

In DC, charters are better than DCPS. That's a low bar to clear, but charters have proven they do better at educating the lower-income and minority students.

Where is your data to prove this assertion. There are excellent public schools and low quality charter everywhere...including DC. CAPCS was just shut down not only because of mismanagement but also because they weren't teaching the kids anything. Generalizations are very short sighted.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I think it depends on the charter and the DCPS.

+1

[Anonymous]

CAPCS was just shut down not only because of mismanagement but also because they weren't teaching the kids anything.

A problem that then arises is that these kids feed into other schools and have the potential to bring the PS test scores down because the charter didn't do the job they were trusted to do.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Yes - I have never understood the claims that new and untested schools are high achieving and produce great results. I know families at both of these schools and while most (but not all) of them are mostly satisfied and are not leaving the schools, as they have moved beyond PreK, they have become much more circumspect and those with money are spending a healthy amount on outside tutoring. This does not mean those schools are not great - and I do not intend to imply this. Personally, I want every single public and public charter school in DC to be great. However, a school could be great but not be the right place for your particular child for a variety of reasons (size, language focus if that is not your kid's thing, lack of enough physical movement time, lack of a science focus, etc.).

+1

[Anonymous]

Our experience in 2 HRCS has been a very negative one. We have seen time and time again how teachers are constantly trying to fundraise for the school and how grades are directly proportionate to the amount of donation given by the family.

We tried everything in order not to believe in it but there is way too much evidence...