Reply #127: People donate money to medicine all the time

[mzteris]

who aren't DOCTORS! Are you going to refuse to go to the Mayo clinic because of it?? What's wrong with people donating MONEY?

Do you really think this is about making money for these people? REALLY? If you truly "believe that" then I can't help you. Hell, even if I believe it, though, I'd take their money in a heart beat 'cause right now our schools are going bankrupt.

You have a lot of very biased information highlighting ONLY the negatives. At least,though, when a charter school fails - it DOES go away, instead of continuing to "NOT EDUCATE" kids - and in some cases actively abuse them, like some traditional models. that's the whole POINT, imo. If you're not any good at your job, get the hell out!

I firmly believe that yes, in the past there were some VERY bad decisions made about charters. It was a new system with bugs to be worked out. They're gettingn better all the time as the successful ones are modeled and the failing models avoided. Have there been scandals? Yes. (As well as scandals in traditional ones.) You don't cut off your leg because you have an infection in your toe! Andn I DON"T believe that "more charter schools fail than succeed."

At current count there are approximately 5000 charter schools in the US.

Between 2005 and 2009 (2008-2009 schoo lyear) approximately 1,931 charters opened. 582 (FIVE HUNDRED EIGHT TWO) closed. That's hardly "more fail than succeed", by any mathematician's figuring.


Urban Prep "appears to have success"? That's an understatement! And no, I DO NOT believe there was any grade fixing or bribery or anything of that ilk. That really infuriates me when people say that - I always wonder at their motivation, ya know?

No, no miracle. But putting the money, the effort - and yeah their clout and prestige - into helping poor underprivileged under-served kids - then why the hell NOT? They donate money to colleges and universities, too. Are they making money off of them as well? Don't you believe people can just be altruistic?

One of the things the "Blueprint" goes into is the COMMUNITY. They want to improve everything surrounding a student's life to make it better. Really it's quite good if you'd read it. (Iknow i say that a lot, but honestly, I think hardly ANYONE on DU has actually read the entire damned thing! aarrghh)

The facts ARE that yeah, we do know what some FAILING SCHOOLS are. They're the ones where kids can't do basic math and get to ninth grade without being able to read! Charters are not THE answer to public eduation, but they are ONE option that is currently working for thousands of kids. Do you want to take that away from them? Have them go back into a school that OBVIOUSLY - for whatever reason - wasn't working for them?

Why do you say that the first thing cut in Charters is educator pay? Could you provide some data with that?

Yeah, a lot of Charter teachers do "work for less" . Why do you think that is? Do you think that jsut MAYBE they like where they're teaching so much it doesn't matter? That they're given the autonomy and the support to actually do what they love - and that is to actually TEACH KIDS?!?

That's one thing that really bothers me about a lot of the teachers on DU bashing Charters so much. Don't they realize that there are TEACHERS who WANT to teach there. Qualified educators who - in some cases - have helped to found and design these schools. That just MAYBE there are SOME redeeming qualities to be found charter public schools.

It's NOT a competition for gd's sake! We should all be workikng to help kids learn and succeed. Having more models and choices is the optimal way to go about it. Problem is. It hasn't and isn't being done in most places. Sometimes if you want a job done right, you just gotta do it yourself, you know? Some teachers, some parents, some kid's just got TIRED of waiting for the school district to come around and "fix" their problems. They can't afford PRIVATE school. Why shouldn't everyone have the freedom to choose the school environment that works for them without having to pay for it?

Thank you for not attacking me and having civil discourse. I hope I've returned the same. I know sometimes people think I'm being rude or snarky when I have no intention of doing so, if it seems that way, please forgive me. I really would like to have these types of discussions. I hate all the bickering and childish name calling so many indulge in. Yeah, I know sometimes I'm guilty 'cause I do get extremely incensed on occasion and I hit post before thinking. I try not to do that. And I try very hard to listen to people's facts and ideas. What turns me off is when people make PRONOUNCEMENTS based on nothing more than "what they heard" or someone's someone they know had a "bad experience".

Thanks again.