We talked about Hempstead Schools before... quite literally, if you live in Hempstead Village (which means a high chance of poverty, or at best limited economic means), a place where they recently had a 30% graduation rate, your ONLY choice as a parent is parochial/private school for which you likely don't have the money or the Charter school.
There are some really ####ty Charter schools. Abuse or abdication of authority, sketchy finances... but when they work, they can literally be the only real chance at a decent education for children who's worst mistake was being born into the wrong neighborhood.
Considering the abject failure of urban public schools, why further harm these communities by preventing additional options and resources, when you know they can be a great benefit if done right. And you can create the right framework to get it close enough to right as compared to the terrible and proven alternative.
Yes...but how much of the failure of Hempstead schools has the utterly corrupt board? I don't know first hand but wasn't the lady who headed it taking school funds for cars and vacations and other illegal activity? And she kept on getting voted in? (again, I don't know 100% of the specifics)
And while I understand what you are saying, I also feel very strongly that there is only so much a school can do. Too often lately we are expecting our teachers to be teachers and parents, but not disciplinarians, and thats simply not sustainable. Sep in places like hempstead where the poverty rates are so high, but your politicians are looking for the schools for solutions and results, where they should be focusing on the community. As i said, my wife is an elementary teacher, but all she can do is be a role model for the few hours that the students are with her. She can't make them go home and do their homework, she can't make the parents speak only english at home, she can't watch out for them after hours when they could be out getting in trouble. Likewise, the public school does not have the liberty to pick and choose what kids will be attending or not, they have to take anyone and everyone regardless of background.
On the flip side, I hate the way the public school curriculum is organized today. I flourished under teachers who were able to express things differently or had unique was of teaching. I didn't fit into a standard curriculum. And I'm fortunate that i'm working in the field I am (graphic design) b/c I was allowed to explore and develop my talents and interests. There is where charter schools are more beneficial.
I use to have Success Academy (A very large NYC Charter School) as a client, and I could see 1st hand the amount of marketing and manipulation that went into their application process. And Eva Moskowitz was paid a very, very hefty salary from the state funds that would make the average Public School Superintendent look like a pauper...but yet everyone is ready to come out with pitchforks and fire when Newsday publishes their teacher salary guide.
Again, I am not opposed to alternative forms of ed...I agree (with your additional post after this one) that education is paramount and options are not bad. But in many cases, charters don't operate under the same constraints public schools do. Also, I think most public schools need to loose their whole volunteer board setup, that is made up of general parents who are really under qualified to handle the amounts of money a typical public school requires.
And lastly, here is my general look at the failure of what the state is imposing on teacher evaluations through the standard tests. You take a school like Hempstead and all of its socioeconomic issues. Those same students are taking the exact same test as those from say Dix Hills where the the median income is way higher and parents can afford private tutoring and other extra help. Which students do you think will score better? So by the states logic, the Hempstead teachers are substandard and will eventually be fired while the teachers in Dix Hills will have to work less hard and keep their jobs. So when a good teacher, I mean a really really good teacher is looking to start their career, where do you think they will look to apply? Hempstead, where they desperately need great teachers, but will most likely be out of work in a few years, or Dix hills where they can have a nice long career teaching kids who already have higher means and income potential.
The whole way the state is handling things is flawed and shortsighted IMO. And I can;t help but believe that there is reason to want certain schools to fail so that their politically connected investor friends can swoop in and eat off of the state education fund in the name of 'better education'
@Koya...I appreciate our discussions today in both threads, and the looks at opposite ends of the issue....high-five man.