New state report card proves Ohio’s charter school experiment has failed
Source: Plunderbund.com
Charter schools have been touted as the key method by which Ohio was going to improve public schooling in Ohio for over a decade. Charters have long been given flexibility by the state to try innovative programs and have been frequently exempted from many of the same regulations that constrain traditional public schools. Charter schools have also been promoted as providing competition to failing urban schools under the premise that the competition would cause both the charters and the districts to make dramatic improvements.
According to StateImpact Ohio, Charter schools were supposed to offer students who werent succeeding in traditional public schoolseither because of the school or the studenta good education. They were supposed to apply competitive principles to Ohios public school marketplace by encouraging traditional public schools to improve in order to retain students.
After 15 years of charter school expansion, the new Ohio school report cards provide the strongest evidence yet that this method of using charter schools to supposedly reform education in our state is a complete failure. The latest results from the state make it clear that the large urban districts are not dramatically improving and the charter schools that are supposed to be transforming educational practices while being given every advantage (including a greater amount of state funding) are doing no better.
As you might have heard, the State (as a result of Ohios legislators) released new school report cards this year that assign letter grades for Ohios public schools in up to 9 different categories. While not all schools get letter grades in each category (i.e., elementary schools dont receive grades for graduation rate or graduation tests), every school does contribute at least some grades to their overall district grade. Now, instead of only comparing the low achievement scores of the charters with the urban school districts where they reside, we can now compare the combined letter grades of all of the charters with those of all of the individual schools in the large urban districts (Akron, Canton, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Columbus, Dayton, Toledo, and Youngstown) that have come under attack in recent years. While Cleveland got their own mayoral takeover plan last year, Columbus has been soundly criticized this year, and just last week was vilified by its own mayor, Michael Coleman, in a pro-levy commercial and on the mayors pro-levy website.
Read more: http://www.plunderbund.com/2013/08/24/new-state-report-card-proves-ohios-charter-school-experiment-has-failed/
perdita9
(1,144 posts)Public school teachers told society this would happen. The problem is not the schools -- it's the families and the environment the children are raised in.
Studies have shown that kids from supportive, nurturing families excel even in "poor" school districts in Chicago. Home environments have more of an effect than school environments.
BTW, I'm speaking in generalities. Yes, there are kids from dysfunctional families who go to Harvard and kids from middle class families who drop out. Nothing is a guarantee for success.
votesparks
(1,288 posts)because of the life stressors it creates. Watch the scores go up, as poverty goes down. Families are much more able to be supportive and nurturing when then have the time, and don't have to work 2-3 jobs.
cstanleytech
(26,280 posts)tanyev
(42,541 posts)the real reason (most) charter schools exist is to funnel public money into private pockets.
Many of the wealthy who would otherwise spend their own money to send their children to private school now have their expense subsidized by the state
mountain grammy
(26,613 posts)freshwest
(53,661 posts)DainBramaged
(39,191 posts)how sad for all
awoke_in_2003
(34,582 posts)bearssoapbox
(1,408 posts)Kashits and his cronies will keep charter schools around as long as they are producing money for them.
While screwing the public schools out of more and more money.
Turbineguy
(37,312 posts)we were not told that if those running the schools had higher profits, the students would benefit. What could possibly go wrong?
AllyCat
(16,174 posts)This is terrible. Funneling money into the pockets of the rich at the expense our not only our children, but our entire society. We ALL LOSE when education is weak.
BumRushDaShow
(128,748 posts)"Reading", '(W)'Riting". and " A)'Rithmetic".
Seriously. Bring back drills.
mountain grammy
(26,613 posts)Some things in life cannot and should not be based on profits.
BrotherIvan
(9,126 posts)Spot on. Something many European countries understand that we do not: public good. We had better fix it right quick, or we're Rome.
jmowreader
(50,552 posts)Isn't that what the right wing always says when privatization fails?
Ash_F
(5,861 posts)Except for profit so less money goes towards students and teachers.
Logic!
sakabatou
(42,146 posts)CK_John
(10,005 posts)were meant to train a ready job force. The problem now is a lack of jobs and employers. Noone now has any skin in this school life cycle.
The Cyber-era has productivity out stripping the need for people. Schools need to become day care centers, art&crafts centers and wilderness camps.
yurbud
(39,405 posts)whoever can pay the biggest bribes gets the contract to siphon off our tax dollars into their profits.
It's that simple.