Unchartered territory: 2020 Democrats back away from charter schools

[DonViejo]

The party's presidential hopefuls are improving their grades with teachers unions by looking to other education ideas.

June 9, 2019, 6:00 AM EDT
By Benjy Sarlin

WASHINGTON — In 2009, a newly-elected President Barack Obama called on lawmakers to remove limits on charter schools, saying it “isn't good for our children, our economy, or our country” to hinder their growth.

Ten years later, Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., announced an almost mirror-image position: A national moratorium on federal funding for charter schools pending an audit, and a ban on for-profit charter schools.

"Charter schools are led by unaccountable, private bodies, and their growth has drained funding from the public school system," his campaign said in a press release.

He's hardly alone. At an education event in Iowa on Saturday, South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg sounded a skeptical note toward charter schools.

"For-profit charter schools should not be part of our vision for the future," he told reporters. "And I think the expansion of charter schools in general is something that we need to really draw back on until we've corrected what needs to be corrected in terms of underfunded public education."

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https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/unchartered-territory-2020-democrats-back-away-charter-schools-n1014706?cid=public-rss_20190609

[murielm99]

1. I agree with Pete.

[Little Star]

2. Me too!

[Indygram]

3. Not all charter schools are created equal...

Where I live there are public charter schools that are free and they are not religiously based. They focus on specialized areas of learning, like STEM, performing arts, International Studies, Conservation/The Environment, etc. The population growth is so fast in my area that there is a horrible overcrowding problem in traditional public schools. Charters are badly needed in many areas like mine because it can take a very long time to build new traditional public schools. Those Charter schools can be built more quickly and have helped relieve some of the overcrowding burden.

The for-profit Charter schools are definitely not good, but the ones that are part of the public school system, with proper regulation, are NOT bad and I support those. They do NOT take away anything from public schools because they are part of the public school system. When you have a student who plays the violin or dances the public schools often don't offer anything for them at all. Students should not be robbed of these choices. Public non-profit charter schools are not the enemy.

[theaocp]

4. They're correct.

If you have the time and resources to push open charter schools, you have the time and resources to correct public education, whether it be the need for proper facilities, staffing, or whatever. Charters ignore the actual issues, so the system remains corrupted and partially tended.

[demmiblue]

5. Good... that was one area that I was disappointed in regarding the Obama administration, and why...

I won't consider backing Booker in the primaries.

[Wounded Bear]

6. Just saw in the local paper, several charter schools are shutting down in my state...

Of course, charters here (WA) were pretty heavily regulated, and the state recently went through a years-long process to fix funding for public schools. That appears to be coming around, but isn't really finished yet.

The point is, and I think it was stated above, if a state can afford to fund charters, they can properly fund good public schools.

Educating our children should be a no-brainer, but the PTB are still trying to turn education into a for-profit industry, instead of a 'public good' system.