Charter schools
Critical Analysis in Education: The Case for Charter SchoolsDuring my daughter's first grade year, several disturbing revelations concerning her early education precipitated what has since developed into an extended personal exploration of American education reform. I came to realize that our neighborhood public schools, whose primary function I believed should be the academic achievement of its students, had become subject to ideological experimentation and philosophical indoctrination. Earth Day was explored for a week, while Columbus Day was ignored. Competition in any form was treated as negative and competitive students had been referred to counseling. In-service days were spent not in professional development, but in shopping for culturally sensitive art supplies. In addition, theses events occurred at a time when the school district was scoring well below national averages in every tested academic area, and our school was scoring in the thirtieth percentile at every grade level, even when compared only to within-district scores. When confronted with these facts and subsequent questions regarding the school's educational priorities, the administrator was less than reassuring, and my family was encouraged to explore other
In fact, many Colorado charter schools, such as Jefferson Academy, work with higher than average populations of special needs students, as do most charter schools in Minnesota and Wisconsin. However, it could be argued that because of their fundamental political concern, pursuit of educational innovation and excellence is not always their topmost priority. This is a product of the fundamental philosophical differences between the NEA and charter supporters that will remain unresolved, as charters generally choose to maintain personnel on merit, while the NEA values time spent in a given position. Even with such financial disparities, however, many charter schools in Colorado showed impressive results in the years following the passage of the Charter Schools Act. 5 stated that "the charter school and the district shall begin discussion on the contract using eighty percent of the per pupil operating revenues (PPOR). This brings Colorado charter schools into funding parity with their neighborhood counterparts. It is a product of children who enjoy school and excel in their studies, parents who understand and are actively involved in their children's education, and educators who feel honored and excited about the opportunity to truly exercise their passions and abilities in teaching. 5 currently ranks twelfth among the thirty-five charter school laws compared nationwide by the Center For Education Reform (1999). Other hurdles include erroneous assumptions or incomplete information regarding the practical differences between charters and traditional public schools. My discoveries were disconcerting, at best, and as my involvement grew, my welcome at PTA meetings, the school administration building, and the hallways of the neighborhood school quickly wore out. Since that time, 35 other states have enacted charter school laws, with proposals waiting in the legislatures of many more (Charter School Legislation, 1999). In addition, while charter schools are naturally subject to the same federal and state laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of disability, race, creed, color, gender, national origin, religion, ancestry, or need for special education services, as other public schools (Fischer, Schimmel & Kelly 1999), they may apply for waivers to specific state statutes and district regulations. Philosophically, charter schools employ a wide variety of educational theories and instructional approaches. For instance, in its influential "Criteria for Charter Schools" (1999), the organization states, "Charter school employees should be covered by a collective bargaining contract.
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