During the academic year that just concluded the State of
New Jersey closed four public charter schools for poor academic performance.
This brings the total of 16-charter school that have been closed under the
current administration. According to reports, there are still 88 charter
schools operating the state. All four of the applications for new schools next
year were rejected. This exposes a broader conundrum. If the amount of funding
for school is finite, where should the available funds be allocated?
According to the National Alliance for Public Charter
Schools there are about 6900 public charter schools that enroll over 3.1
million students. This represents an increase of about 7%. Currently 43 states
plus the Districts of Columbia have charter school legislation. Washington, DC
has the largest percentage of public charter schools.
Charter schools are publicly funded and independently run, in
some cases operated by for-profit companies. Sometimes, they don't have to
follow the district's rules and regulations, even though they may receive
funding from them. They often don't hire unionized teachers -- a distinction
that has put them at odds with teacher unions.
Are charter schools better than their public counterparts? Well,
that depends.
This is where the issue will be debated. Should federal funds be
spent on public schools or should they be used to expand the charter school program?
Secretary of Education Betsy DeVoss is a major proponent of charter schools.
She has been a strong proponent of the charter initiative in Michigan.
A great deal of research is inconclusive. Some research points
to the fact that charters have been more successful than traditional public
schools. Other reports have labeled them as failures. Sociologically, there are
a higher percentage of minority and low-income students in charter schools.
Concerned parents are obviously looking for alternatives to failing public
schools (see Washington, DC).
We don’t know where this debate is headed but charter schools
will continue to be a hot button issue.
C.2017 J. Margolis
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