Charters Done Right, Charters Done Wrong
September 12, 2006 12:58 PM
Teacher/Blogger/Math-Puzzler/AFT Member/Occasional Commenter jd2718 recently described himself as "kneejerk anti-charter" in the comments section, expressing concern about the charter schools started by AFT's NYC affiliate, the United Federation of Teachers (UFT). It seems appropriate (and admittedly a little trite) to respond by saying there are good charter schools and bad charter schools. But it's the truth.
The UFT's charter schools, started by teachers who are committed to their students, are charters done right. The elementary school has a well-rounded curriculum, two teachers per class, a safe environment and a free after-school program five days a week. The high school has no more than 25 students per class; highly qualified, accomplished teachers; a rigorous college-prep curriculum that includes English, math, science, social studies, foreign language, physical education and the arts, and college courses in the 11th and 12th grades; an extended-day schedule, with homework assistance and tutoring; and weekly community service activities. That's a formula for a successful school.
In Ohio, they have many charters done wrong. Test scores for students at David Brennan's White Hat Management charter schools, known as Life Skills Centers, are among the worst in the state. According to the Ohio Federation of Teachers, "In 9 of the 20 Life Skills Centers across the state, more than 25 percent of the students were not tested in 2006. All 20 received Academic Emergency ratings; none met the federal AYP standard."
The philosophical underpinnings of White Hat Management are suspect as well. According to an announcement of Brennan's upcoming appearance at the Heartland Institute, Brennan believes "vouchers are the answer for the problem. Charters are a way station on the way to getting full choice through vouchers."
Jd2718, I disagree with your kneejerk anti-charterism, but, with people like David Brennan setting themselves up as charter school emperors, I can understand why your knee is twitching a little.
Comments
John,
I hope I was clear. I have nothing bad to say about my union's charter schools. In fact everything I understand about how they were set up seems good, or better than good.
But charters do make me edgy. Knowing what I do about the charter movement taken as a whole I can tell you that any mention of them makes me nervous.
Jonathan
Posted by: jd2718 | September 12, 2006 06:05 PM
Jonathan, I think you were pretty clear -- skeptical of charter schools but supportive of the UFT's work. I hope I didn't imply anything else.
I just thought it made sense to use your skepticism as the starting point for my short piece.
Posted by: John at AFT | September 12, 2006 08:20 PM
This is an interesting post - I had no idea that teacher's unions were running charter schools. I think we need to try different approaches to education reform and base our conclusions on research, not ideology.
Posted by: Jason | October 19, 2006 06:43 PM