Charter schools - private education at the expense of the underprivileged.

Charter Schools Are Wrecking Public Education (Click on this heading to read more)

Karoli

Wednesday, November 20, 2013, 10:17 pm

Charter schools are another one of those policy ideas that sound great on paper, but end up being more destructive than constructive. The original idea was to allow schools within the public school system to innovate and more closely tailor curriculum and instruction techniques to student needs. But somewhere along the way, the mission and intent behind charters changed, to the detriment of public schools.

AlterNet:

There are many factors that make charters an unsustainable strategy for improving public education. Unlike most charter schools, traditional public schools accept all children, including much larger numbers of high-needs students. In most states, charters do not face the same public accountability and transparency requirements as public schools, which has led to serious problems of mismanagement, corruption, and profiteering.

Invariably, beneath accounts of spectacular charter success lie demographics that reveal fewer special-needs children, fewer English language learners, and fewer children from the poorest families. This hasn't stopped the cheerleading coming from some quarters, but it does undermine the credibility of charter schools as a strategy for improving public schools overall.