Charter Schools Complaining

The Buffalo News reported on February 23^rd that the Buffalo area private charter schools are complaining that they are not receiving enough money from the state (emphasis mine). They claim that they need more money in order to meet the needs of their students and to maintain the facilities.

According to the story, for each dollar that a Buffalo City School student receives, the private charter schools receive only 60¢. That is the rate set by the state.

And they are “losing money” paying to keep the facilities looking nice and fixing them up. And every dollar put into that is money taken away from teachers and students in the classroom.

I've heard this all before. From Public school officials, teachers, students, and parents.

And let's remember – public schools are allowed to increase their operating budget by 0.12% this year. They are going to be suffering major cuts to necessary programs for students.

There is a difference between private charter schools and public schools.

First: Charter schools are private. They are not public at all. They may receive a charter from the state, but they are held to a completely different set of standards than public schools are. The schools in receivership in Buffalo have two years to turn their story around or they can be privatized. Private charter schools are evaluated every four years and have a longer period of time to improve grades and test scores than public schools before the ax falls.

Second: Charter schools are selective in who they will admit and can expel a student if they don't meet the requirements of the school. The expelled student then goes back to the public school system where they have to take anyone that walks through the doors. And students that have special needs have to have them met by the district. Private charter schools can set their standards in such a way that the special needs students can not get in. This is fair? If charter schools are so great at education, they should be mandated to take the lower achieving students. As it is, they work to set the rules so they can skim the cream of crop and leave the rest behind.

Third: How is the money they are receiving being spent? Supposedly these schools can achieve better results at lower costs, since they aren't dealing with unions and special needs students (whose costs are inherently higher). I was watching Democracy Now report on charter schools in NYC. The Chancellor of Schools in NYC makes around $245,000 for overseeing 1,100 schools and all their students. There is a charter school in NYC that has 5 schools, 3,600 students, and the supervisor receives $366,000 a year in compensation. We need to look at how they are spending the money that they are receiving. The school principals (or whatever title they go by) should be receiving less than the lowest paid public school principal. After all, isn't that what capitalist competition is all about? Doing a better job for and with less? I wonder how much of this money is really for the students and teachers and how much is for lining the pockets of the higher ups.

Fourth: For all this public money that they want, where is the publicly elected school board that oversees the school and is part of the decision making process? Where is the voice of the parents in the school decision making? Do they even have a voice? Taxpayers deserve a voice, just like they have in the public school system. No public voice – no public dollars,

And that is just common sense.

For more on the war on public education, see Public School Shakedown. It is hosted by the Progressive magazine. A non-profit news organization.