Tuesday, June 08, 2010

4 more days of school left.

It has been a long grind these last few weeks of school. It is scary to think that these kids have no focus or direction. I am at a rural high school now and all too many of them don't realize that knowledge is power. Most of what we learn in life is not really used, but definitely keeps us from being screwed having our car fixed, or which item is a better buy and certainly getting us an edge over the next person in finding a job.
We have a new charter school opening up in a nearby county. The legislation in funding charter schools is WRONG!!! There is certain data that suggests that charter schools might test a bit better than a regular public school, some data that suggests they are worse and some data that says there is little difference.
A major part of the education of a student is learning how to get along with others. Public school is by far the best place to do that.
If this school opens in August, then our school district will have to give them about $850,000!!!! This is for a school not even in our county! Their (The state's) reasoning is that they will serve some of our students. They have a choice in who they serve. They do not have to take anyone they do not want. A public high school has no choice in that matter, but we are judged by our test scores. The exceptional children we serve are judged in the same way as our valedictorian on test scores. Granted, a few of our students who are physically or mentally not capable of taking a test are exempt from the tests, but the rest are not.
If this is allowed to continue, then these types of schools will bankrupt our public schools. Then what happens to the teachers?
Public schools have more resources, and we should not have to give them up for a school who does not offer the same types of courses or the same populations of students. A nearby school system is fighting the legislation that requires them to provide some of the pre-school funding when the charter school does not even offer pre-school. We also are required to provide Career and Technology (Federal) funds to that school which does not offer any Career and Technical Education Courses. How fair is that?