Quote:
Originally Posted by Clodfobble
Except charter schools actually get less money per student than the public schools,
and also have higher success requirements to meet in order to avoid having their charter revoked.
And charter schools are required to open their lottery to any student living in the county,
they cannot reject students like a private school can.
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There is a lot of debate over each of those statements, especially the $ and success rates.
Obviously, there are many different kinds of "charter schools".
But every charter school takes $ out of the public school system.
When the charter school takes the $ from a finite and limited source,
or when the charter school appeals to more talented/motivated/capable students and parents,
the public system must manage with less funds and a more difficult population of students.
In that sense, the charter schools are taking the "cream of the crop",
while the public school outcomes are pushed further towards a self-fulfilling prophesy.
In reality, it is the religious component to charter schools that is most bothersome,
because it funnels public $ from the education system into "charter schools"
set up primarily to foster a group's particular religious views.
This is happening in Oregon, and it's not hard to find evidence of it in other states too.
To Wit:
The Dallas Morning News
JESSICA MEYERS
Nov 22, 2010
Charter schools with ties to religious groups raise fears about state funds' use
Quote:
<snip>
More than 20 percent of Texas' charter schools have some kind of religious ties.
That's the case for six of the seven approved this year, including ones in Frisco and Arlington.
Church-charter partnerships are springing up across the country as private institutions
lose funding and nontraditional education models grow in popularity.
Their emergence prompts questions about the role religious groups
should play in the development of publicly funded schools.
"The church-state line is beginning to blur," said Bruce Cooper, a professor
at Fordham University's Graduate School of Education, who has studied religious charter schools.
"We may be coming to a midpoint between the best of what is private and the best of what is public."
Critics fear the fuzzy division means taxpayers are footing the bill for religious instruction.<snip>
Religious groups may apply to open a charter school if
they establish a separate nonprofit to receive state funds.
Even with a middleman, heavy overlap exists between the school
and the religious group that supports it.
Dozens of Texas charter school leaders or board members hold
prominent positions in the church, where the schooling sometimes takes place.
Parochial schools reinvent themselves as charters, often with little guidance on running a public school.
And the mission of the school itself typically stems from the values of the religious group.<snip>
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