newsobserver.com projects - charter schools - Comments

Re: School grants competition on

PaulTerrell — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 16:15:12 -0400

June Atkinson was asked that very question at a Wake County Taxpayers meeting in Raleigh and she again said she was against lifting the ceiling on charter schools. She said she was fearful of creating failing charter schools. Apparently she is not afraid of creating failing public schools.

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

MattM — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:43:07 -0400

The primary concern of public schools should be the students, not teacher's jobs. Opening up the cap will force the administrators to be smarter with their decisions and I don't see that as a bad thing. The public schools and charter schools can then learn from each other.

Unless you just want to continue making the actual education of young people the second, third, fourth, or fifth priority. Even Obama recognizes the valuable role charter schools can play as an addition, not a replacement.

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

PaulTerrell — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 16:23:58 -0400

Hey Mr. Protzman, where is your statement on failing public schools. I think we need to put a cap on public schools until they are all awesome. I mean come on how ridiculous is both your statement and that one? I do not hear from you about closing failing public schools or limiting the number of public schools.

Overall Charter Schools outperfom public schools with less. Per student public schools get much more than Charter Schools per student. And the Charter Schools do much better.

Measured Investment? Oh come on Mr. Protzman, come clean and say how you really feel about Charter Schools. The statistics prove Charter Schools are overall superior to public schools. What are you afraid of, some real competition?

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

factsversefallacy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:59:46 -0400

Because the current system of accountability in place for public schools is resulting in such great results...

Do Charter Schools Perform Better Than Traditional Public Schools?
EdSource Study Says…It Depends

This study shows that Charter schools DO perform better on the middle and high school level...

NC's Charter School Report Card

This shows that our charter schools face strong accountability standards and over 30 schools have closed because of poor performance!

Boston's Democratic Mayor even recognizes the need for MORE

factsversefallacy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 15:55:58 -0400

Tom Menino, the longtime Democratic mayor of this city, is not known for rocking the boat or for eloquence. But earlier this month he stunned many in the city when he gave a powerful speech about school reform.

Charter Schools Win a High-Profile Convert

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

factsversefallacy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:40:54 -0400

NCAE, whose parents organization is NAE, is a union - plain and simple - semantics semantics!

Union representing teachers in the state. Affiliated with the NEA.

This is what it says when you do a Google search and the results pop up!

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

PJLofWake — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:31:19 -0400

NCAE's position paper on Charter Schools:
http://www.ncae.org/Images/Users/7/Charter%20School%20Position%20Paper.pdf
BTW, "A" stands for Association not "UNION"

PS

James_Protzman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:52:16 -0400

I forgot to mention, I am a supporter of measured investment in charter schools, though I oppose increasing the cap. We already have plenty of under-performing charter schools in North Carolina. Until we have a system to make sure there's accountability, we shouldn't raise the cap. Legislation that would increase the cap by 6 schools is silly.

Charters perform no better

James_Protzman — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:50:14 -0400

According to a recent report by the leading advocacy group for charter schools, they performed no better than public schools.

Re: Charter cap could cost N.C.

factsversefallacy — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 10:25:08 -0400

Considering our teachers are being fired and we are facing tax increases to "save the teachers," then this should be an easy sell to allow more charter schools...

Does anyone know if kids perform better in public schools or charter schools?

I wonder if the teachers union will support this idea to expand the number...I think I know the answer...

Re: Poll: Voters want more charter schools

stephenraburn — Thu, 21 May 2009 14:08:05 -0400

Last week, the House passed bill 856 which modifies the cap on public charter schools from 100 to 106. It's now being considered in the Senate. At present, there are 97 public charter schools serving approximately 33,000 students throughout the state.

HB 856 is a step in the right direction, but much too small of one. Today, more than 16,000 children throughout North Carolina are on waiting lists for public charter schools. We would need at least 20 new schools right now just to meet current demand.

Not only would the proposed modest cap change still leave thousands of children on waiting lists, there is a significant financial cost as well. At a time when the state is scrambling to find revenue to fund schools, lifting the cap by only six would place the state at a disadvantage for subsequent rounds of federal stimulus funding and severely limit the amount of funds NC could receive from US Dept of Ed Charter School Program.

Additionally, North Carolina stands to miss out on a number of innovative national education initiatives and substantial national private foundation money -- certain to go to states more receptive to charter growth instead.

While the North Carolina Alliance of Public Charter Schools would like to see a complete lift of the cap, it is currently focusing its efforts on pushing for recommendations outlined by the Blue Ribbon Commission, a group of education leaders appointed by the North Carolina State Board of Education in 2007 to examine public charter schools in the state.

The Commission recommendations include approving up to six new public charter schools each year, allowing public charters with a proven track record of success (particularly those successful in closing the achievement gap for at-risk students) to replicate without counting towards the cap and allowing the first public charter school in a county without a charter school to not count towards the cap.

Most North Carolinians want the cap lifted, as the poll shows, black and white, democrat and republican.

President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan have both enthusiastically come out in support of increasing the number of public charter schools.

Most states across the nation have recognized that there is a critical need to try new and innovative approaches to improving student achievement in our public schools. Public charter schools give parents choices within the public school system. They have the flexibility to try innovative ways of improving learning with the goal of sharing what works with the broader public school system so that all students benefit.

Public charter schools are held to higher standards of accountability than traditional public schools. Not only are they accountable to the families that chose them, they’re also accountable to their authorizer, the State Board of Education, who can close down the school if it doesn’t meet its fiscal and operational goals.

High quality public charter schools are good for children. And good for North Carolina. By lifting the cap on public charter schools, we all gain.

Note: Stephen Raburn is acting executive director for the North Carolina Alliance for Public Charter Schools, which is based in Durham.

Re: Poll: Voters want more charter schools

avg_joe — Wed, 20 May 2009 21:14:03 -0400

I don't see a whole lot of real evidence to suggest quality is plummeting. While bitching about schools seems to be everyone's favorite hobby these days, I think there's plenty we can be proud of with regards to our public school teachers. Don't let some idiot with a hidden agenda tell you how to think on the subject. From corporations pushing H-1B and L-1 visas to religious groups pushing home schooling, there is a lot of BS driving the loudest complaints about our public schools.

I do think No Child Left Untested was one of the biggest mistakes we've made in education the past 10 years. I also think that we need to give teachers more autonomy to teach their students, rather than assuming some state government bureaucrat's minute-by-minute lesson plan is better. Educational systems in foreign countries that produce the best results are known for allowing the teachers to be the professionals they train them to be. It should also be noted that charter schools are not burdened with the bureaucratic BS that our public school teachers have to endure.

We also need to do a better job of separating out the bad apples. There are limits to what we can do for kids that were poorly raised by their parents and/or are the product of a poor environment. Certainly, we need to give them the opportunity to shape up when behavior problems arise. However, if they fail to shape up, allowing them to stay in class with kids that really want to learn is only asking for trouble.

Re: Poll: Voters want more charter schools

BothSidesNow — Wed, 20 May 2009 17:41:53 -0400

Why have a cap at all? Let parents decide where their kids get educated. Having a cap is simply a government controlled monopoly. Just like any other monopoly, the costs sky rocket, and the quality plummets.

Re: Poll: Voters want more charter schools

TheLibertine — Wed, 20 May 2009 16:55:34 -0400

No surprise here. Parents are demanding a better education for their kids. Why should they be forced to pay for a private education when their property and other taxes are so high, i.e. they are already footing the bill for public schools? Public education needs to adapt to the demands of the customers they serve.

Re: House: charters and pickets

PaulTerrell — Wed, 13 May 2009 23:20:49 -0400

ON HB856- This may sound cynical but if the SBOE is unable to properly educate and graduate prepared students. How can we trust the SBOE to fairly or compentently track Charter Schools?