Reply to Should VA have more charter schools?

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Reply to "Should VA have more charter schools?"

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I'm at a charter school in DC - it's an amazing program and we love it.  We are also moving to VA to go to a neighborhood school

There are great things about both.  As a charter school advocate for many years, I can say - we have loved the special programs that our charter school had that our neighborhood school did not.  We loved the flexibility that our charter school had that our neighborhood school didn't.  If you want to make a change, you just talk to the principal and it could be done in months - not years.

What I didn't like - the commute.  We were driving across town to get to school (my kid is going to WALK next year!).  The lack of structure, the communication was terrible, there was no planning and sometimes it seems they made things up as they went along.  Teachers, while the teachers were good (nice, kind) they lacked the experience to deal with real issues in the upper grades (bullying, special needs, homelessness, trauma).

Both types of schools have benefits and draw backs - but after many years in DC with the charter system (which I'm still an advocate for in DC) - I'm looking forward to moving to VA without charters.

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Can I ask why you are an advocate for a charter system in DC verses magnet programs even though you're leaving it? Is it because DC school administration is corrupt or something? Doesn't sound like charters are much better. Virginia is a right to work state. I don't see the need for charters at any level. And while you have the ability to drive to different schools and seek out the best charters and all the details on them, many of the poor do not have the means or the ability to do so. The bill proposed at the state level would create charters across different counties. The schools would not necessarily be near the poor neighborhoods that need schools close by. Can you not see why charters then are not the solution for public education? Perhaps have a couple of charters or magnet schools in some very poor areas, but otherwise all they do is pull money away from public schools. Also why not try magnet schools first before paying private entities to run schools? Or just try rezoning areas to diversify housing and create school boundaries that are incorporate more diversity.[/quote]

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