POSTED ON BEHALF OF DOUG

There is no evidence that charter schools are worth it.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/alan-singer/charter-schools-are-the-w_b_617054.html

I have read quite a bit about the growth of charter schools in Michigan. 

“32 new Michigan charter schools set to open in fall 2013”
http://michiganradio.org/post/32-new-michigan-charter-schools-set-open-fall-2013

From the Wall Street Journal - “What Michigan’s Charter Schools Can Teach the Country
The secrets of reform success include liberal chartering rules and freedom from teacher tenure.”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424127887323375204578271853227727678

As for there is no evidence that charter schools are worth it…..........explain the steady consistent growth of the charter schools across United States versus the status-quo of the public schools that rather closed down schools than to improved the overall academic achievement of children.

I believed the growth of chartered schools in Michigan is due to the many closures of public schools. In cities like Detroit, parents are welcoming the chartered schools with open arms for good reasons. “Even before Detroit became the largest city in American history to file for bankruptcy, residents were waiting for some new ideas ... or just a ride.

That’s because the only citywide transit option in Detroit is the public bus system, DDOT, which has suffered severe financial cuts. That means routes have been abandoned, buses are often late or break down, and drivers say they suffer assaults. The divide between Detroit and its suburbs is more like a gulf when there is no mass public transit to connect them. ”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/22/detroit-bus-company_n_3791802.html

If one thinks that is bad, take a look at the Office of Student Transportation - http://detroitk12.org/admin/operations/transportation/  Some parents are just relieved that their children can walked to the charter school that the public school board had recently shuttered.  And no one will want to know the safety record of the school buses being operated by the school board officials, but it is an eye opener….....

Rome wasn’t built in a day, Doug.  It’ll take time for charter schools to really take off academically.  Most importantly the public has to realize that education is very important nowadays, because unskilled jobs are disappearing across the continent.  That’s why I remarked on the Ann Arbor math teacher feeling so discouraged because of the parents’ attitudes about math homework, that she resigned.  Too bad—teaching had been her life-long dream.  But obviously, the parents who were sending their children to a chartered school just didn’t get it. 

Please understand that Detroit isn’t all blighted!  There are still vibrant neighbourhoods, and Indian Village and Boston Edison have some of the most beautiful homes I’ve ever seen, many of which were designed by the world-renowned architect, Albert Kahn, whose office was in downtown Detroit.  Our media only focuses on the negative, because that’s what we’re most interested in

pobod

Nancy, simple. America has the worst bottom 20% of schools in the developed world due to it’s poverty gap. The people on the bottom are desperate for something better. The motivated poor want to be separated from the poor who have given up. Charters are offered to them. They often jump at it but soon find the charters cannot help them either.

They are willing to try anything. A whole crowd of very shady people move in behind charters. They are just trying to make money nothing else by preying on poor people. They cannot produce a better product as recent studies have shown.

Only selection can give the fake appearance of improvement. It is all in the selection. Few SE or ELL kids, push out behavioral, run school longer hours, can produce some temporary appearances of improvement.

Be very careful Doug, the government and social institutes of North America are being mocked at by their very own citizens. Watching the Global News, is becoming quite entertaining with a few laughs from former President Bush on the neutered Rob Ford. Tossed in the House of Commons and what is being revealed, it is just a matter of time when the prying eyes of the public to set their sights on the social institutes. One of them, being the public education system, where over the years - gym is a novelty, compared to the days of the 1960s and 1970s and three times a week. Also on the news tonight, is that kids today are not as fast moving as the kids back in the 1970s. Earlier this morning, a government run daycare in Manitoba, giving a $10.00 fine for not supplying a grain option in their kids’ lunches. That one made it on CTV Canada AM, and of course the parents piping in making comparisons between government operated and the private daycare operations. Government daycare operations don’t supply snacks or hot meals as the norm, but this Manitoba operation will be supplying hot meals and dropping the fines.

Any low income people act like other people in different income groups. They too, need choice and options when the public education schools are no longer educating students. The public education establishment are too busy using the classroom as a holding pen, looking for creative ideas for the next contract negotiations, to obtain the raises and continue the status-quo. For shame Doug, the public education establishment along with their public sector counterparts stood silent, and watched on the sidelines as the public libraries close, the public schools closed, the cuts to bus transit, garbage and a host of other city services in Detroit. Who got hurt the most?  The people inside the inner city of Detroit. Bev is correct there is still vibrant neighourhoods in Detroit, who are able to pay the taxes so their street lights can stay on during the night, their garbage being picked up, and the streets being clean. However, that is not the case for the inner urban areas of downtown Detroit, and even outlying areas.

That said, the charter schools are coming to the rescue in the nick of time - read this story Doug - “This Thursday, the group will organize a meeting at which parents can enroll their children in local charters, which are publicly funded but can be privately run. So far, about 15 charter schools have confirmed their participation in the meeting. “We want to let the parents know that they have a choice and don’t have to stand by and have their kids shipped away to the new boundaries,” said Josh Coggins, the group’s CEO. “We hope to help with dispelling the myth of charter schools and letting them know that a charter school is a public school.”  http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/08/06/buena-vista-school-distri_n_3713599.html?utm_hp_ref=detroit-public-schools

On the Huff and Post - a host of articles on Detroit schools - public and chartered - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/news/detroit-public-schools/

Now for another story with a different take - “How Court’s Bus Ruling Sealed Differences In Detroit Schools”  Very interesting and should be considered as one of the aggravating factors of the past, to the situation today in 2013.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/11/19/245970277/how-courts-bus-ruling-sealed-differences-in-detroit-schools

Back in the late 1960s, my own relatives were leaving the city Detroit for the suburbs or places outside Windsor, Canada. I remembered some of the stories when we came to visit, and the adults would talked about schools. Never thought much of it back then, because I was more interested in the crop of peanuts.

And Doug, meanwhile the wage gap is wider than what it is in the United States. And the public education sector sits back, demanding higher wages while creating new regulations to issued new fines for parents who do not meet the standards. A map of the 79 Detroit schools that were abandoned by the public education establishment - http://detroit.curbed.com/archives/2013/07/bankrupt-and-shrinking-detroit-selling-79-abandoned-schools.php