Or was that for profit reasons? Silly me - same difference!

There are articles in our local paper all the time about management skimming money, cheating on tests, and even one school where they opened a speakeasy in the basement after school hours (seriously),

The first jack-out-of-the-box here, the former mayor (who lost re-election just before the posse was let lose) announced he was applying for 90+ charter school licenses. He had been heavily implicated in dozens of nefarious "deals" during his too many years in office. Tried his best to cut a deal to sell our utility company, profited from real estate sales made possible by rezonings and city redevelopment plans..... it went on and on.....

So he was just among the first to smell the money and jump in.... I think he wound up with several licenses but not the huge number he intended to.

I've no doubt there's a substantial number of other crooks we just don't know about yet, but I've no doubt his will surface as problems soon. It's that old "leopards and their spots" thing.


Help me remember. Did we really have a problem with teachers before Bush's No Child Left Behind? Seems that's when teachers and their unions became demons as the Republicans created a problem to sell their "fix".

I'm just afraid a large number of our citizenry doesn't understand how vital public education is to this nation.

Washington State just fell for the charter school mantra and voted them in.

I fear for our students, frankly.

That "Charter" thing needs to go away and be replaced with "FOR Profit" school.

Here in Los Angeles, even the Mayor has his fingers in a FOR PROFIT school company.

Such bullshit that has been going on all across the country.

Just, laughing my ass off.

They get the easier breaks, but hte public schools do not. So they CANNOT be compared--yet they do and charters look better. I'm all for a different kind of school--because some kids need something different--BUT if they are gong to receive tax money to fund their schools, then they damn well better be graded on the same curve as the rest of us. And if they faiil, then they deserve the same repurcussions as the public schools that don't make "adequate" AYP. Of course, we could simply throw out NCLB--and fund ALL our schools equally--so that those of us who teach in a lower socio-economic level at least stand a chance. NCLB hurts the schools that teach minorities, second language learners, students with more IEPs than any other. But good for the feds for enforcing NCLB across the board. Let the charter schools feel the pain of unrealistic expectations regarding AYP and API, just like the rest of us do in public schools.

If student success is their intent, they should be calling for tougher standards for all.

Sauce for the gander.

why shouldn't they be exempt?

subsidize private schools with public money, and they are not held accountable.

Thankfully not where I teach.

Act 85 the opportunity scholarship tax credit..Please check it out.
http://www.psea.org/uploadedFiles/Publications/Professional_Publications/Advisories/Act85AndTheOpportunityScholarshipTaxCreditProgram.pdf

and the eligible parochial/private schools that the students can transfer to via a scholarship that is funded with corporate tax credits. Please keep in mind that what they define as underperforming only applies to public schools and the criteria is any school that is in the bottom 15% of the state standard (PSSA). Many of these schools have met AYP, however they are in the overall bottom 15% because there will always be a bottom 15%. Students that are eligible cannot transfer to another public school within their own district and the options within their district appear to be all parochial/private schools. I wonder if a school loses funding for the child when he or she goes elsewhere?
http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt/community/school_services_office/9153/p/1202312

That's the point.

Charter schools are essentially private schools financially (in the sense that they are "for profit&quot , but work under the guise of being a "public school alternative".

My kids went to a private school for a while (until we could no longer afford it). The education quality really was superior because they were not being taught to pass state and federal mandated tests, but rather they were taught to learn. It was comprehensive. For example, when studying the Great Depression in social studies, they might read The Grapes of Wrath in English at the same time. It really was better. Now my kids are in public schools and it is staggering how much pressure there is to prepare for all the exams coming down the pike.

Just predicting the Fox News headline...