Working Together

I think that increasing choice for parents regarding education can be good. I believe that parents should always have the choice to decide what is best for their child's education. Students should not be forced to stay in a terrible school system if instead they could be sent to a more successful charter school or given vouchers to attend another school. As we discussed in class some charter schools are better than others. I thought our reading on charter schools was interesting when it mentioned that charter schools are becoming increasingly segregated. Half of the charter schools have student populations that are more than 60 percent children of color (Mark F. Bernstein). The Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies reported that blacks are 11 percent less likely than whites to be satisfied with their local public schools. I work at a charter where the student population is primarily African American. I think that charter schools are segregated because they are placed in areas where the population has a low socioeconomic status. Parents of children in these school systems want another option of where they can send their child other the public school in their district that is struggling.
I do think that it is a problem that charter schools are using funding from public schools. Charter schools are denying public schools the financial resources they require to address the needs of an increasingly disparate student population (Mark F. Berstein). I do think that it would would be a better idea to use the funding for charter schools to improve the public schools. The funding would help to improve programs such as special education. It also seems to me that because so many students are going to charter schools that there are less teacher openings in the public school system. The public school system will begin to struggle if charter schools continue tend to grow regarding the amount of students they serve. Today charter schools serve more than 1.2 million students.
In the end I think that charter schools are here to stay. I liked the article that I read from Richard Whitmire where New York City schools attracted a few of the most successful charter networks to work with them. "Instead of fighting each other for resources, we ended up trying to figure out how we can deepen the pool and work together to make resources available for all to grow" (John King). Charter schools and public schools do need to stop fighting each other, they need to work together in order to provide the best education possible for each student.

the right choice

When thinking about this question, I tried to put myself in a parent's shoes. They have so many decisions to make when it comes to their child(ren) their education should be one of them. Especially in some of the lower income areas, where the districts are on the weak side, parents should be actively involved in finding the best education for their child. I am a tutor, and I sometimes look around at some of my students and wonder to myself if they would be more successful in a different schools setting. I believe that if parents used the option of choice more often, there would not be as many problems in schools as there are currently."The population of charters has more than doubled, growing from 1,680 in 1999 to 4,128 in 2007." These statstics from Charter Schools on the Rise shows me that parents are using the option of choice for their children, by the great increase in numbers of charters schools in the last 10 years.
So what is the correct answer…charter schools…private schools…I don’t necessarily think that there is a correct answer, it really comes down to the individual child and where they will be most successful.

Increasing Parent's Choices

How can it ever be a bad thing when one is given a choice, especially pertaining to the education of one's own child? As Charles Glenn pointed out, "parents have a fundamental right...to choose the schooling that will shape their children's understanding of the world." As a mother of three, and each being distinctly different in personality and needs, I've had to utilize all forms availabe (parochial, public, and charter). The oldest started in parochial school and went as far as the 10th grade then went into the charter school. Why did I switch to charter? As brought up in our class presentation, I believe Mary, a couple weeks ago...the cost! As my children grew and progressed through the parochial system, so increased my tuition! By 10th grade, she was a National Honors student but not eneough scholarship was available and you can only work but so many Bingo's to help with the tuition! So here comes the hard decision...continue with the parochial and continue working a second job just to cover the tuition (approx. $5,000 for H.S. in 1999) or go to the public system? NEVER PUBLIC, not where we live, with these bad kids, my mind went racing! As noted in the article Charter Schools on the Rise, "the population of charters has more than doubled." I believe this is because so many of us are caught in a"parent trap." We want the best for our children academically and do not live in the best public school district while on the other hand, the more realistic view, can't afford the private/parochial schools. So, as many parents, I turned to the charter school as an alternative to the public runned school due to not meeting eligibility for a private-school voucher, as noted by Shanker in the article The Charter School Idea Turns 20.
My oldest is currentlyin her second year of college on an Honors Scholarship, thanks to this particular charter school. Because of this I am compelled to disagree with the statement "most high-poverty charter schools, like most high-poverty regular public schools, fail to produce high levels of academic performance," in the Charter School Idea Turns 20. This particular charter school that I speak of has been noted for their various achievements in the Cleveland Plain Dealer as well as in U.S.News and World Report as one of the "upcoming premier charter schools in the Cleveland area." Charter schools have worked for my two girls but not for my son. So now back to square one after this school year. Public school or charter school because I can't qualify for a voucher, but I don't want him in our local public school, can't home school. Oh, what to do? Haven't I gone in a circle with this issue? But it's okay because I have a CHOICE! As stated in a Defining Moment for Charter Schools, "now there are some outstanding ones and some lemons, but charter schools overall are not proving to be radically dissimilar to other public schools." This just goes to prove that your lemon may be someone else's lemon-aid. To paraphrase and expand on the same article, wouldn't it be ideal if all modes (public, private/parochial,and charter) were able to intermingle, with shared "lessons learned" and expand into shared training and more, therefore yielding the "Internet" era of schools, allowing the best schools to get even better.
So back to the original question of Is Increasing Choice for Parents Good for American Education? How can it be bad if you have your child's best interest at heart? Going back to the theme that we have been discussing since the beginning of the semester...how do we prepare our children to become an active and integral part of the working force and therefore assimilating into society and can hopefully compete globally. This is where parents come in get involved and exercise their right/choice of educational format to enhance, encourage and promote the growth of our children academically for today and tomorrow. For me the charter system worked for two out of three children. Thanks to this democratic society I have the CHOICE to figure out what works for the third.

"Right Choice for Parents, Real Chance for Children?"

As you get into this "new era" of education of which President Obama speaks of it is truly evident that America needs change. I believe that increasing the CHOICE for parents on what school they would like their child to attend is good for American education. We have been in need of change for quite some time and offering this CHOICE to parents could be a start to the answer of how to make American education better. Think about the quote "the right choice for parents and the real chance for children". I have lived by this motto for years. Why you might ask? Well it is the motto of my school. It is in a sense our promise to those who believe in us and are a part of our school community. Parents choose to come to my school because it is what they feel is in the best interest of their child. They appreciate the specific programs that are offerred and are interested in many of the options that we offer (more one on one time, 20 students per class, the teaching of values and character...following state standards etc). Whose to say that the government or anyone else can tell a parent what school a child should attend...it clearly is the parents CHOICE. I believe that having CHOICE is definately one of the most wonderful aspects of our country..we are free to have the CHOICE of where to send our children to school. There is a reason that parents have chosen a particular school. Part of our enrollment forms feature a section where parents are to write a paragraph on why they believe this school is best for their child/children. The secretary allowed me to look through some of my kids files and read what the parents were looking for. I came to a realization that two things semed to be important to the parents joining our community. They were particularly interested in the fact that we are a school based on a character curriculum and smaller class sizes. I read a bunch that mention that they like that all teachers have to be highly qualified and that all of our schools also take the state mandated tests. Some of them were not pleased with traditional public schools and were looking for a change. It doesn't matter what happened in each case but that parents do have the right to again find a place that is a "better fit" for their child. There are two quotes that stood out to me from the article "Public or Private". The first one said "the public has absolutely no right to judge on anyone whether a parent chooses to send their child to a public or private school". It isn't for the public to decide but for the parents. Also, the quote "every school is as good as its admin, staff admin, policies, class size, parent support, and budget". It isn't always about the choice that parents make for their child/children but what the school may offer that could be an important reason why the choice for parents is good for American education. I have seen amazing things happening with our schools and if it were not for the option of CHOICE I feel that many students would be at a disadvantage and would not be where they are today. For me the quote "the right choice for parents and a real chance for children" has a true purpose. Could this be the change America needs?