Charter Schools - Whoppee!

[Jimmy Higgins]

Charter schools are a right-wing wet dream. Let people cut money off the top to make profit by running schools.

Of course, in some parts of the country, there are good charter schools. Schools that aim at a particular student or discipline. They can be quite advanced.

In Ohio one school is so advanced, they are apparently teaching students outside the confines of space and time.

When auditors working for Ohio Auditor Dave Yost showed up unannounced at 30 charter schools across Ohio on Oct. 1, they found seven where there were significantly fewer students in the seats than estimates provided to the state for funding purposes.

In one case, a Youngstown school was empty even though the lights were on and staff was present.

Yeah. That school is being funded by the Republican led State Legislature to educate 152 students.

I have good news though.

He said the report does not indicate necessarily that fraud has occurred.

“Are 100 percent of the kids showing up 50 percent of the time or 50 percent of the kids not showing up hardly at all?” Mr. Yost asked. “…We need to know the answer to that question.”

*phew*

And I'm sure that answer will come in an amount of time that is inverse to the contributions the owners of those 7 schools is making to certain lawmakers.

He referred his findings to the Ohio Department of Education, suggesting it look at the way it pays the schools and how it monitors attendance. He did not make specific recommendations for legislation, but he said there are holes in current law allowing such discrepancies to occur.

Those are loopholes, they are space stations. But I'm glad the Republicans are on top of this. Maybe wait for the company to declare "bankruptcy", then fine them.

 

[Nice Squirrel]

One of our charter schools turned our to be teaching Islam to students. Took about five minutes to shut that one down.

 

[fromderinside]

Maybe those who vote for charter schools think the state has absolved itself from responsibility for educating those who go to charter schools?

Time to reconsider what it means to be a society with certain responsibilities to its citizens I'm thinking.

 

[Jason Harvestdancer]

 Charter school

A charter school is a school which receives public funding but operates independently of the established public school system it is located in. Charter schools are an example of alternative education.

These aren't private schools, they are public schools trying to be specialized.

 Charter schools in the United States

Charter schools in the United States offer primary or secondary education without charge to pupils who take state-mandated exams. These charter schools are subject to fewer rules, regulations, and statutes than traditional state schools, but receive less public funding than public schools, typically a fixed amount per pupil. There are both non-profit and for-profit charter schools, and only non-profit charters can receive donations from private sources.

I can see why people might have a problem with charters schools. They aren't actually private, they're merely an example of the problem of public education metastasizing. Oops, no, that's what sensible people say. Most people object to it having fewer rules and breaking the rigid paradigm of public education.

 

[ElectEngr]

My two kids go to a charter school in Texas set up by Turkish profs from UT and Texas A&M with heavy emphasis on Science and Math. I haven't seen any indication of Islamic teaching in the school even though Phyllis Schlafly did a commentary on them several years ago.

When we were looking into private schools in the area, two Christian schools DEMANDED we show them our 1040A so they could charge us 10% of our gross income.

Later,
ElectEngr

 

[laughing dog]

I can see why people might have a problem with charters schools. They aren't actually private, they're merely an example of the problem of public education metastasizing. Oops, no, that's what sensible people say. Most people object to it having fewer rules and breaking the rigid paradigm of public education.

Apparently one of the fewer rules in Ohio is the one about attending school. LOL

 

[Tom Sawyer]

To be fair, if they take taxpayer money and don't actually educate students, it's rich people stealing from the government as opposed to poor people stealing from the government like you get by having negroes and the like get a free education which they don't actually need in order to sell drugs on the street corner. That means it's not a real crime.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

 Charter school



These aren't private schools, they are public schools trying to be specialized.

 Charter schools in the United States

Charter schools in the United States offer primary or secondary education without charge to pupils who take state-mandated exams. These charter schools are subject to fewer rules, regulations, and statutes than traditional state schools, but receive less public funding than public schools, typically a fixed amount per pupil. There are both non-profit and for-profit charter schools, and only non-profit charters can receive donations from private sources.

I can see why people might have a problem with charters schools. They aren't actually private, they're merely an example of the problem of public education metastasizing. Oops, no, that's what sensible people say. Most people object to it having fewer rules and breaking the rigid paradigm of public education.

Or for the adults participating in the conversation here, have a problem with the for-profit model that a few of these charter schools run with that are pretty much stealing taxpayers dollars and producing nothing, see the Youngstown school as an example.

Otherwise the Charter school idea can work, but the foundation of the school has to be based on education, not profit.

 

[ronburgundy]

 Charter school



These aren't private schools, they are public schools trying to be specialized.

 Charter schools in the United States



I can see why people might have a problem with charters schools. They aren't actually private, they're merely an example of the problem of public education metastasizing. Oops, no, that's what sensible people say. Most people object to it having fewer rules and breaking the rigid paradigm of public education.

Or for the adults participating in the conversation here, have a problem with the for-profit model that a few of these charter schools run with that are pretty much stealing taxpayers dollars and producing nothing, see the Youngstown school as an example.

Otherwise the Charter school idea can work, but the foundation of the school has to be based on education, not profit.

^^This^^ Some things should be private and some public, and basic education, criminal justice, and basic health care are among the things that sane people realize should be public. The problem is when private profit motive is allowed to inject itself into public systems and use public monies while spending as little of it as possible on the public service, since that is the take more than you give math that defines profit.

 

[Nexus]

^^This^^ Some things should be private and some public, and basic education, criminal justice, and basic health care are among the things that sane people realize should be public. The problem is when private profit motive is allowed to inject itself into public systems and use public monies while spending as little of it as possible on the public service, since that is the take more than you give math that defines profit.

The problem is people that start with the flawed premise that private business is always better or more efficient than the government. If you compound it with the flawed belief that profit is the best motivator, then you end up with for-profit prisons that bribe judges to keep more convicts in the system for longer and or lobby to mandate higher overall incarceration rates.

 

[AthenaAwakened]

The idea of charter schools began with teachers who wanted more automony and more resources spend in the classroom and not administrative costs.

A noble idea and one that make sense.

What has happened and is still happening is children being shoved into schools that do not teach you the stuff of education but rather how to take tests.

There are some good charters out here, but they are by no means alone or safe

 

[AthenaAwakened]

Here is a recent report just on charter schools in PA

Fraud and Financial Mismanagement in PA Charter Schools