More pros and cons for charters and choice

As an advocate of public education,  I see little difference between the charter school option and school choice generally.  So for the purpose of this argument, I'll treat the two as synonymous.

For some parents, charter schools offer an alternative to what they view as the stifling orthodoxy of traditional public schools.  In districts that bow to the testing dictates of No Child Left Behind (like PPS), charters are refuges from excessive testing and the obsession with literacy and numeracy at the expense of a much broader curriculum that includes music and art and all the other areas of student learning that can't easily be assessed by a multiple choice test.

Some charters, then, --not all (like the Arthur Academies)-- are perceived as student centered.  And progressive.  That's a good thing.

Some say that charters are laboratories for innovation that can steer other public schools in the right pedagogical direction.  If true, that's also a good thing.  I have my doubts about the legitimacy of that claim, however, on two grounds.

First, to say that charters can influence what happens in traditional public schools makes no more sense to me than the notion that competition between schools results in better schools all around.  That's market ideology.  It doesn't work in the realm of education.

Secondly, as I wrote in a comment to the post on charters on PPS Equity, we already know what works to truly improve and reform K-12 education.  (Steve Rawley later noted that I "...took the piss out of that argument [labs for innovation], and I think he has a point… we already know what works; we just have to implement it.")

Here are some of the reasons why charters and choice fail the test of good public policy:

• They don't serve the common good.  They benefit some students --usually the more advantaged-- at the expense of others.

• Charters and choice concentrate good students with supportive parents in some schools, and leave others --the disadvantaged-- behind in less affluent schools.

• Despite the ruse of the "lottery", charters are selective primarily because they require a parent application.  That works to the benefit of motivated and informed parents.

• Charters can dismiss students who are behaviorally difficult.  (That may be more true nationally than in Portland.)

• Charters may be publicly funded, but they are otherwise private.  Charter school organizations are statutorily tax exempt 501(c)(3) corporations run by special interest groups, even though the groups consist --usually-- of "concerned" parents.

They are other "cons" to the charter school issue.  Suffice it for me now to conclude with a couple of quotes from Ockley Green parent, Rose, (a nom de web, I'm pretty sure, of a fairly well-known Portland writer.)  Rose has contributed much to the (again) record-breaking PPS Equity post, "Charters and PPS":

• "...you asked how charter applications are barriers to poorer families.

  "You have to think of this in terms of a parent without your resources. You clearly have a car, don’t work nights, have childcare, and speak English, and other abilities which make going to 4 mandatory meetings almost an entire year before your child might attend a given school a viable option.

  "Think about this process for a parent without those resources. There are many parents without cars, without computers, and with limited English." ...       

• "...school choice has stripped many schools of their wealthier students. Now Ockley is a largely poor minority school floating in a gentrifying neighborhood where most white parents send their kids Somewhere Else.

  "We don’t need to discuss how much this hurts a school and hurts the students left behind."

• "...I don’t see any way around the barriers imposed by school choice and charters. Someone will always be left out, and that someone will probably be brown, black or poor.

  "So the short answer is, we need to bite the bullet. We need to get rid of school choice."

What Rose says makes eminently good sense.  Let's bite the bullet on school choice.  And charters.

Comments

[Gerald Howard]

As a parent I have the responsibility to ensure my child gets the best education possible. The unfortunate fact of the matter is that PPS tends to educate to the lowest common denominator. My 3 older children attended Catholic grade school followed by Jefferson HS in the early to mid-1980's and that was the worst decision I ever made. At the time I thought I was being supportive of the community, not fleeing to the suburbs, etc. My children received a VERY poor education, the effects of which I still see today. My youngest child also attended parochial grade school but then went to Benson (back when students actually had to be admitted on their merits). The difference was night and day. To go to a public-school meeting and see 10 parents in attendance indicates to me that they simply don't care. You cannot convince me that out of a population of 800-900 students, 98% of the parents cannot participate due to economic reasons. Yes, I earn an above-average salary, own several cars, don't work evening, etc.; and I want the best for my children. I don't really care what your excuse is for the poor performance, but I will say - fix the schools first, then ask me to send my child there. Whether it be a private school or charter school, in any case my grand children will NEVER attend a PPS.

[Terry]

I agree, Gerald, that we should fix the schools. I'm just not sure about the "first."

Even with the cooperation of the district and the school board (because of budget constraints, Benson is the latest victim of short sighted district and board policy), it will remain difficult for under-enrolled high poverty schools to attract the student and parent support they need to become quality schools.

It's a conundrum. I certainly can't blame you for wanting the "best for your children."

[howard]

Terry: I commend you for including "choice and charter" schools as stumbling blocks to the ability of PPS to provide strong neighborhood schools to all PPS students. There is a tendency on the part of many posters to accept district run "choice" schools as long as they employ union teachers and serve to retain the support of affluent parents.

In addition to the need to retain parental and student support in low-popularity schools, there is a need for policies and contract provisions to establish and retain effective and experienced teacher cadres in each of those schools.

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