Reply to Accountability and Charter Schools

Forum Index » DC Public and Public Charter Schools

Reply to "Accountability and Charter Schools "

Subject:

Emoticons





More smilies

Text Color: Font: Close Marks

[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Nobody’s talking about all schools, we’re talking about the system of oversight for charters in DC. Good ones are fine, with or without effective oversight. Bad ones are allowed to continue without consequence or accountability for years. Eventually families start fleeing and they enter the “charter death spiral” and the Board takes notice. It’s been happening for years.[/quote]

This.  Yes, the really egregiously poor performers are eventually closed.  After being awful for years and years and getting extension after extension, slowly spiraling down and down.  Closure won't bring those years back for the kids.  And it won't change the fact that taxpayers paid for low performing schools because the charter board isn't willing to actually enforce its own standards.[/quote]

If this is true, please compare to the failing DCPS neighborhood schools and how they are permitted to churn along horrible for years and years failing generations of students. [/quote]

Easy.  They have to do things charters do not, like take all IB kids year round.  Together they provide a comprehensive system that provides a seat for all children at all times.  Do some of them not function as well as they should?  Sure.  But unless charters are willing to share in that foundational responsibility, schools of right must continue to exist.  DCPS does sometimes close schools (Washington Met and Shaed are a few examples), but it must be able to continue to provide a school of right to every student who wants a seat, within a reasonable commute.  So it's not so easy to close.  Not like a charter that can pull the plug and leave people in the lurch whenever it wants.[/quote]

Friend, you are confused.  What does DCPS schools being available for every inbound student have to do with charter accountability? And before the argument was the charter board leaving schools open too long, now the complaint is they close whenever they want? Go back and check your anti-charter talking points.  Or else, narrow your complaints to the particular school you have a problem with.[/quote]

The point is that DCPS must provide a seat for every child that wants a seat, within a certain distance from home.  That means that DCPS cannot just shut down a school without a plan for where those children will go and how they will be served.  It's a totally different thing from how charter schools can shut down at any time without making a plan, knowing that DCPS must step in and serve the kids.  DCPS does intervene, replace principals, implement turnarounds and restructurings, and sometimes do closures.  But it's a different type of process with different considerations.[/quote]

I think what you are in favor of is improvement in both charter and DCPS sectors and robust cooperation between the two sectors.  Agreed that this choice is best for students across DC and that the arrival of charter schools in DC has resulted in the overall improvement of both sectors. It’s not as simple as one sector is great and the other is a waste of tax dollars. Here’s to continued improvement for all DC students.
[/quote]

Options

	Disable HTML in this message
	Disable BB Code in this message
	Disable smilies in this message

Review message

Search Recent Topics Hottest Topics