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DC Public and Public Charter Schools
Charter Schools and Bill not pasing congress
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Anonymous
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I was told that the bill that authorized funding for charter schools has not passed congress for next year-is this true?
ANd if so how/ what affect if any for the DC Charter Schools? |
Anonymous
Can you be more specific? The Mayor sent his budget over to the DC Council recently and it did not include eliminating funding for charter schools. Charter schools are run differently in every state. DC's are more liberal than most. |
Anonymous
| Are you thinking perhaps of the Federal voucher program which provides money for poor kids to go to private schools in the District? that is separate from teh charter schools. |
Anonymous
The Mayor's current budget under submission to but not yet voted on by the City Council slashes facilities funding for charters (which already cost DC taxpayers much less per pupil than public) and is loaded with provisos about throwing charters under further mayoral control (just like DCPS). The Mayor has staked his claim on being the 'education mayor'. Rather than attract folks back to DCPS through amazing programs, he is hoping to kneecap charters (which he unnecessarily perceives as competition) in a twofold way: handicapping their ability to grow into permanent, wholesome facilities and diluting the autonomy that allows them to form unique programs. Visit the FOCUS website for more information on the Mayor's latest budget and how it pertains to DC charters and how to contact Councilmembers.. and then please, protest to Councilmembers. We charter parents DO support public schools. However, we believe in the option of differentiated programs and the incentive it provides to DCPS to not attract students simply because they have no other recourse, but by creating great programs. http://www.focusdc.org/links/index.asp |
Anonymous
Hoo boy! Okay, I'm a charter parent too, so I totally understand your anger. Having said that, funding has not been slashed. For one thing, the only funding question under consideration was with respect to facilities. Vice the Mayor's proposal, facilities spending per pupil now stands at $2800 across the board which is SUBSTANTIALLY opposite the initial budget. (I never thought I'd see myself in political agreement with Marion Barry...). Look, don't go scaring the OP. Charter schools now enroll 36% of DC public school children. They're not going away anytime soon or EVER as long as DC Council members want to keep their jobs. Charters are too big too kill. Having said that, I get your concern: clearly DCPS is running scared (of course: charters are out-performing DCPS on standardized tests in the hardest-to-serve populations! It's only a matter of time before more middle and upper-middle class families peel off into charters). Rhee and Fenty are looking to do ANYTHING to raise their scores against charters. But the Council won't let it happen. They have too much invested in being the anti-executive vox populi. |
Anonymous
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Anonymous
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OP, it sounds like you're talking about the voucher program which Congress did indeed kill the funding for. It was a lot more controversial than charter schools because only provided funding for about 1,700 low-income students to escape their local DCPS into better performing private schools. In contrast charter schools (which also out-perform DCPS) are open to all public school students in Washington, DC.
More info on the DC Opportunity Scholarships (voucher program) here: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123897492702491091.html http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2009/02/24/dems-want-dc-vouchers-dead-hope-someone-else-pulls-plug/ |
Anonymous
| "(which he unnecessarily perceives as competition)" - I'm curious about this - why aren't charter schools competition to DCPS? |
Anonymous
I think that the Mayor is taking a very nuts and bolts view of charters, and does not appreciate the purpose they serve for children in this city. For example, there are charters specifically designed to remediate and advance children who were not thriving in public schools. Others offer special language programs that DCPS does not. DCPS has had 50 years to develop great programming; now that consumers (parents and children) have options , to call those options competition frames it as something negative--a drain on the public system. I guess I see it as a glass is half empty/half full argument--if charters are offering something appealing to city residents, isn't that a wonderful inspiration to the Mayor and Chancellor to redouble efforts to create great, appealing programming? And wouldn't this benefit all children in the city? Also, charters by design cost less per pupil than DCPS, and so do not suck away 'extra monies' from DCPS. To be fair, DCPS is shrinking, and as children leave it needs to rethink how it budgets, facilities etc. But ISN'T it TIME for DCPS to rethink, instead of selling kids in this city the same stale bill of goods? Charters are not competition; they are inspiration. |
Anonymous
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Charters don't suck away extra money from DCPS unless they kick out unruly students after the deadline has passed allowing the charters to keep the DCPS funding the student brings with them while sending the problematic student back to his/her neighborhood DCPS school. Not saying that this happens a lot or it's a plot by the charters to drain money from DCPS but the picture is more complicated than pp makes it out to be. One can make an argument that charters are good for DC students but to pretend they're not competition for DCPS is disingenuous. Of course they are competition.
And there are a few great charter schools just like there are a few excellent DCPS schools. There are also lousy charter schools just like there are lousy DCPS schools. And some of those great charter schools get a lot of outside funding from around the country just like the excellent DCPS schools often have PTAs which provide a lot of extra funding for their schools. I have mixed feelings about charter schools. Certainly the two good ones in my neighborhood have helped a number of kids on my block but not every charter school provides such a positive experience. And what happens to the kids who get kicked out? DCPS has no choice but to take them. |
Anonymous
Charters have to go through as much oversight and checks and balances in 'kicking out unruly kids' as DCPS; additionally, charters must accept ALL applicants (and go to transparent lottery if there is overflow). So if you look at it the other way, charters have no choice but to take the kids kicked out of DCPS. Certainly most charters are not set up by cynics, and if they have said unruly child they will do their best with him/her before separation from the school. In terms of charter schools that are cynical or do not provide a positive experience, MANY (in the teens) have been closed down in DC. Is this bad? No., it means that the semi-independent Mayor appointed charter board is holding charter schools to their mandates and plans. This is far more schools than DCPS schools that have closed down for underperformance. Again, they may wish to tear a page from the charters. |
Anonymous
Since when do kids who are kicked out of DCPS go to charter schools? Friendship-Chamberlain doesn't have to take kids who are kicked out of Tyler Elementary but Tyler Elementary has to take kids kicked out of Chamberlain. Because one is a charter school and the other is a neighborhood school. I'm not saying that Chamberlain isn't a worthy school doing good for its kids. I'm sure Chamberlain has surpassed Tyler in many ways (although I think that isn't across the board and it certainly is changing at this point. Tyler now has waiting lists.). But I am saying that it is easier to establish discipline when you get the kids whose families had to be functional enough to apply and have to keep their kids in line for fear of being kicked out. For all the good that some charter schools like Chamberlain do, it would be wrong to pretend they don't have an advantage because of this. |
Anonymous
Can you please show me an example of charter law that says they do not have to accept children expelled from public? My understanding is that charters, like public schools. must accept ALL applicants in a transparent way. Unlike publics though, charters have NO neighborhood boundaries and accept on first come first serve from across the city. If said applicant causes a problem, they can then proceed accordingly. I am sorry about these ping-ponging children; it's a pity there is no functioning school, supported by the district, for ED. Unfortunately, Michelle Rhee wants to put all ED kids back in regular classrooms--where clearly problems ensue. And I am not critiquing the children kicked out b/cause there was no structure in their school and they acted out accordingly, but by the time some children are kicked out it is due to severe underlying issues that are not always well served at a regular old public or charter school. |
Anonymous
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PP, here's how it works. If a kid gets kicked out of a DCPS school mid-year, why would a charter with a long waiting list have to accept that child when there are other children ahead of him/her?
On the other hand, if a kid in a charter school gets kicked out mid-year, his/her neighborhood school has to accept him. And keep in mind that a child most likely has to misbehave a lot more in order to be kicked out of DCPS. Like I said before, I have mixed feelings about charters. They certainly have done some good for DC children but they have certain advantages which make it easier for them to manage the school environment. |
Anonymous
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New poster here, and I think both sides are engaging in a little hyperbole. You sound as though you honestly believe there are hundreds of hard-cases out there when really every child who acts out is unique. Do you know how rare it is for a child to get kicked out of school? Do you not agree that this should be a discipline measure of last resort? Do you not believe that effective administrators have many tools at their disposal - not all of which are or need to be punitive? There's plenty of room for counseling, character education, special education among many possibilities which may be much better suited to address a child's needs. If you think the answer "just kick 'em out 'til they learn to behave" you are not part of the solution. Which makes you part of the problem.
If your only tool is a hammer, then every problem looks like a nail. |