Charter schools that focus on particular interests, talents etc sound enticing, but the record of charter schools, to date, often do not appear to meet hopes and expectations. <br><br> Diane Ravitch, an education historian who had worked in the George H Bush Education department, (and author of <em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing
and Choice Are Undermining Education,"</span> ) </em> has a lot to say about charter school, and whether they are the best way to better our public education. <br><br><b>Independent</b> research done on charter schools over recent years showing pretty negative results, may surprise many, and the fact that charter schools often can cherry-pick their students makes them sound very un-democratic. <br>
<br>When these charter schools are not under the supervision of local elected officials, or local administrators, (rather they answer only to this governor's hand-picked directors) why must local school districts bear the financial burden of what might be described as experiments that already have an uncertain academic record at best, and also have a record of leaving behind those students who are needy?<br>
<br>As a parent, I am happy to have my tax dollars go towards maintaining and improving our public schools and improving public education in general, but I hesitate to support educational experiments that already have a dubious track record.<br>
<br><em><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">"The Death and Life of the Great
American School System: How Testing
and Choice Are Undermining Education"</span></em> by Diane Ravitch ... is a worthwhile read for anyone concerned with the future of public education.<br><br>Here's a short quote from a Wall Street Journal Piece by Ravitch:<br>
<h1 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">Why I Changed My Mind About School Reform
</h1><h2 style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);" class="subhead">Federal testing has narrowed education and
charter schools have failed to live up to their promise.</h2><i style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);">"When charter schools started in the early 1990s, their supporters
promised that they would unleash a new era of innovation and
effectiveness. Now there are some 5,000 charter schools, which serve
about 3% of the nation's students, and the Obama administration is
pushing for many more.</i>
<p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><i><b>But the promise has not been fulfilled.</b> Most studies of charter
schools acknowledge that they vary widely in quality. The only major
national evaluation of charter schools was carried out by Stanford
economist Margaret Raymond and funded by pro-charter foundations. <b>Her
group found that compared to regular public schools, 17% of charters got
higher test scores, 46% had gains that were no different than their
public counterparts, and 37% were significantly worse.</b></i></p>
<i style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><a name="U20582377569ANE"></a></i><p style="color: rgb(0, 0, 153);"><i><b>Charter evaluations frequently note
that as compared to neighboring public schools, charters enroll smaller
proportions of students whose English is limited and students with
disabilities.</b> <b><span style="color: rgb(153, 0, 0);">The students who are hardest to educate are left to
regular public schools, which makes comparisons between the two sectors
unfair.</span></b> The higher graduation rate posted by charters often reflects the
fact that they are able to "counsel out" the lowest performing
students; many charters have very high attrition rates (in some, 50%-60%
of those who start fall away). Those who survive do well, but this is
not a model for public education, which must educate all children."</i></p>-------------------------------------------------------------------------------<br><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, May 9, 2011 at 1:27 PM, judith d jones <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jdjones@tidewater.net">jdjones@tidewater.net</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); padding-left: 1ex;"><div style="word-wrap: break-word;"><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <span> </span>Many people
are proposing ways to introduce new ideas, approaches, and reforms in Maine to
address this lack of student achievement. LD 1188 suggests a new grant program
to help superintendents bring back kids who have dropped out.<span> </span>LD 1488 proposes to allow “innovative schools
and districts.”<span> </span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span></span><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span> LD 1553 would allow public charter
schools, which are a proven mechanism for developing innovative public options.<span> </span>They are voluntary, open to all children
without admissions tests, free to parents and affordable for families of all
income levels.<span> </span>More than 5,000 chartered
schools in 40 states now enroll 1.6 million children.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;"></p><p class="MsoNormal"> <span> </span>With more
than 15 years of experience in other states and a continued commitment to
identifying best practices, LD 1553 builds a solid foundation for public
charter schools in Maine.</p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-indent: 0.5in;">One of the big lessons learned from
other states is the importance of the agencies that authorize charter schools
and hold them accountable for performance.<span>
</span>The Maine bill provides for a rigorous application process, continuous monitoring
by the authorizer, and a detailed process for renewal and revocation decisions.<span> </span>Three types of authorizers would be allowed:<span> </span>local school boards, Maine colleges and
universities that offer an education degree, and a state charter authorizing
commission under the State Board of Education.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>We
frequently hear concerns about the role of local school boards and their
relationships with public charter schools.<span>
</span>Traditional school boards are an important part of a state’s education
system.<span> </span>Under the proposed Maine public charter
school enabling legislation, local school boards could choose to act as
authorizers and contract with nonprofit charter schools to offer various
education programs.<span> </span>They could also
collaborate with each other to develop regional programs to meet the needs of
more students.<span> </span>They could use the
charter school mechanism to convert an existing school to a chartered school,
to allow more flexibility in operations, and even to save a small school from
closure.<span> </span>Examples of this approach exist
in rural areas in several other states.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Everyone
should know that the wording of the bill he analyzed was published by the
Legislature’s Revisor’s Office without several substantive changes that the
sponsor, Senator Garrett Mason, had submitted.<span>
</span>Senator Mason plans to submit a “replacement” bill at the hearing on May
12.<span> </span>We have compiled those amendments in
a clean version of the bill, which can be downloaded from our web site, <a href="http://www.mainecharterschools.org" target="_blank">www.mainecharterschools.org</a>.<span> </span>Several of these changes address points
raised in Brian’s critique.<span> </span>Among other
changes, they clarify that public charter schools will be responsible for all
aspects of special education; that public charter schools will contribute to
costs of any extracurricular programs their students participate in at local
district schools; and that public charter schools need to include discussions
with the SAU where they might locate in their application to a chartering
authority. </p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>We are all
working for the same goal: To improve public education in Maine and give all of
our students the best chance for success. Public schools are an important tool
that can give educators the room they need to innovate, increase parental
involvement and choice, and help our children reach their fullest potential. It
is our hope that the people concerned with improving public education will
consider public charter schools with an open mind.</p><p class="MsoNormal"><span> </span>Judith
Jones, Maine Association for Public Charter Schools</p>
</div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
Local-Maine-Schools mailing list<br>
To send a message to the list, write to:<br>
<a href="mailto:Local-Maine-Schools@mainetalk.org">Local-Maine-Schools@mainetalk.org</a><br>
To unsubscribe or change subscription settings:<br>
<a href="http://mainetalk.org/mailman/listinfo/local-maine-schools_mainetalk.org" target="_blank">http://mainetalk.org/mailman/listinfo/local-maine-schools_mainetalk.org</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br>