Time for Charter Schools?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:David Osborne of the Progressive Policy Institute is speaking on Charter Schools on CSPAN2 tomorrow (Sat. 9/16) at 10:00a.m on the After Words program. He has a new book and offers his outlook on the future of public education in his book, Reinventing America’s Schools. He is interviewed by Chester Finn.

I heard him on WGBH - he is informed, cogent, thoughtful and persuasive.

No thanks, we're good.

Ha! Wouldn't want to learn anything...

"Learn?" Ha! I don't want to be sold a product, TYVM. Nice try, though.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: APS has so many "choice" schools that it seems impossible to believe that parents are actually looking for more choice in educational models. If they are looking for less class segregation, that is a discussion with your supervisors regarding zoning. Any charter or choice school will take away bussing which does not end up helping the poor who need the bussing. Plus as it is, the poor in APS already has a choice of many schools to get in a lottery for. They aren't constrained to one school boundary. One of the reasons APS is hurting a bit is because of all the choice schools they have. If they were to add charters, it would just dilute resources further. APS is the strongest school system in Virginia. Outside of class segregation, what else do you want them to do? Their schools are doing well, so it can't be a complaint about the teaching. They cannot fix the segregation issue more than they already have with lotteries or through more boundary shifts. The only way Arlington can integrate better class wise is to put more apartments up north and less down south and provide more opportunities for the poor in the county to attend choice magnet schools. Nothing that needs to involve charter schools.

Is this poster for real?

In one different thread a poster said s/he refuses to call them "choice" schools but instead they are "chance" schools because the demand to get into these programs vastly exceeds the number of slots available. Take HB Woodlawn: 4% of the applicant pool got a slot.

Yes, please please let's see some charter schools come to APS. Let's stop with "chance" schools and produce meaningful choice schools in APS.[/b]

On the one hand poster quoted above says APS is the "strongest school system in Virginia" and in another breath says APS is "hurting a bit is because of all the choice schools they have." I'd say APS is more than "hurting a bit." There are various threads about school performance. If you look at SOL ranking, APS is not competitive with its peers.
http://www.dcurbanmom.com/jforum/posts/list/662273.page#11382855

Specifically that post includes this list.

A quick compilation of SOLs in five key subject areas for all students at some better known area NoVa high schools:

1. Langley
2. West Springfield
3. McLean
4. Marshall
5. Woodson
6. George Mason
7. Madison/Oakton (tie)
9. Robinson
10. Yorktown
11. Chantilly
12. Centreville
13. Lake Braddock
14. Washington-Lee
15. South Lakes

I posted the original one you are quoting and should have been clearer. The only major concern I've heard with APS, other than demographic segregation between schools, is that the county needs a new high school and are short space and funding. I think the magnets like HB Woodlawn take away funds for other schools which you agree with. Arlington has two high achieving magnet high schools. HB Woodlawn and TJ which also dilute population at the other high schools. They may serve a purpose but the more schools you have, the more diluted the money is to each school. I can't see how adding more schools that only take a certain population would help APS improve. Most charters would also take on a low percentage of the population and likely skim off just the top students.

[Anonymous]

Do people really want something new? Are you so interested in Montessori/Korean Immersion/technology-based-learning that you are willing to have your 2nd grader going to school in a church basement? Are you ready for a start up, where the school relocates every 2 years for more space or cheaper rent?

Or, do you want someone to open charters for other kids, so that there is more space and smaller classes for your kid in your neighborhood APS school? In which case, you are really asking someone else to do the School Board's job- especially capacity planning and funding.

If you really want something new- say, an all-girls, STEM focused 5-8 grade middle school with uniforms- then charters are a great tool to fill an educational need that's not being met.

But if you just want your kid to have a decent education in an actual building (vs a trailer) with reasonable class sizes- then vote for a better school board.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Do people really want something new? Are you so interested in Montessori/Korean Immersion/technology-based-learning that you are willing to have your 2nd grader going to school in a church basement? Are you ready for a start up, where the school relocates every 2 years for more space or cheaper rent?

Or, do you want someone to open charters for other kids, so that there is more space and smaller classes for your kid in your neighborhood APS school? In which case, you are really asking someone else to do the School Board's job- especially capacity planning and funding.

If you really want something new- say, an all-girls, STEM focused 5-8 grade middle school with uniforms- then charters are a great tool to fill an educational need that's not being met.

I of course cannot speak for all the various posters on this thread. Speaking for myself as an Arlington resident, who moved to Arlington 10 years ago "for the schools," I want something new. Really truly. I've tried voting for new School Board members. I've filled out every survey about facilities, more seats more students, CIP planning for the county, etc. I earnestly am posting to say these things are n.o.t. working.

I would welcome more choice and smaller experimental environments. I cannot say if I would choose these until they opened. Although a STEM themed girls environment sounds great, I have a DS. A smaller experimental environment for my DS sounds great. I'm not worried about facilities--I'm worried about curriculum, class size, teaching approaches, and my child being lost and discouraged in his APS public school.

So, yes, more choice schools might relieve capacity in my son's public school (if "other" parents found a Charter school appealing) and/or I might elect to send my son to a Charter school.

The knee-jerk hostility to parents who are urging the county look at new solutions is puzzling. Have you not read the threads about the joint facilities advisory group and it's failure to address APS's challenges? Have you not read the threads about McKinley or Oakridge? Everything is fine for some; but many--and I fear an increasingly large segment of the county--are not happy with APS and would embrace something new.