Charter SchoolsSupported by ideas of choice and competition with regularpublic schools.

Education Secretary Arne Duncan Pushes to Aggressively Expand Charter Schools

The President believes that investment in education must be accompanied by reform and innovation. The President supports the expansion of high-quality charter schools. He has challenged States to lift limits that stifle growth among successful charter schools and has encouraged rigorous accountability for all charter schools.

Right now, SCHOOLS HAVE ALONG LIST OF REGULATIONS

RED TAPEBUREAUCRACY

Red tape seen as a problem CHARTER SCHOOLS TODAYAVOID MOST OF THE RED TAPE

2009 4,000 charter schools over 1 million studentsUS National School Population: 49 million

Spring, 159-165

• US Department of Education is encouraging more charter schools.

• Charter Schools are:– Exempt from significant State and local rules that inhibit flexibility– Free public schools– Schools of choice and select students based on lottery– Guided by specific objectives– Compliant with anti-discrimination laws– Required to take state tests– Run by public or private groups (technology,

• Aim of charter schools is to foster innovation in teaching, curriculum and school organization.

Charter schools are:

Alternative public schools and most educators believe that there is a place for a variety of public schools within a large system of public schools in order to serve the variety of needs, interests, and talents of all school students. Since the 1970s, alternative schools have focused on:

– Science and technology– Culture and languages– Arts– Bridge programs for at risk students

What do studies show about student performance in charter schools?

• Almost all studies to date show no better performance in test scores of charter schools compared to local public schools.

– The best evidence comes from the CREDO (2009, Stanford University) study;

• Multiple studies suggest that most charters do as well as or less well than traditional public schools on achievement tests; 17% outperform local schools

– There is some evidence on the positive impact of New York City charters but these show an under-enrollment of ELL and special education students that makes the comparisons to local schools difficult.

There are some very high performing charter schools

Charter School: High Tech High SchoolSpring Chapter 6, 161

Opened in 2000 to address shortage of workers in high tech industries in San Diego. High tech competitiveness for the global economy.

Charter School: High Tech High SchoolSpring Chapter 6, 161

A Liberal Arts Charter High School

“Discovery, “make and do”, “present publically”, “not sink or swim”, learn from failure, “students are pysched about science”, “not just read about it.”

• Qualcomm donated $3 million• Students selected by lottery• Stresses independent and group work.• http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/education/july-dec08/techschool_08-22.html

New Movie on Public Schools “Waiting for Superman”

• “Every morning, in big cities, suburbs and small towns across America, parents send their children off to school with the highest of hopes. But a shocking number of students in the United States attend schools where they have virtually no chance of learning--failure factories likelier to produce drop -outs than college graduates. And despite decades of well-intended reforms and huge sums of money spent on the problem, our public schools haven't improved markedly since the 1970s. Why? There is an answer. And it's not what you think.”

Highlights successful charter schools.

“Not Waiting for Superman” Position of American Federation of Teachers

“Despite the film's good intentions, "Waiting for 'Superman' " misses what could have been a unique opportunity to address the full and accurate story of public schools. The film's central themes—that all public school teachers are bad, that all charter schools are good and that teachers' unions are to blame for failing schools—are incomplete and inaccurate. There are no interviews of good public school teachers and no visits to successful public schools during the entire two-hour movie.”

AFT supports:• Developing great teachers through revamping preparatory

programs for teachers, and overhauling teacher development and evaluation programs.

• Creating robust curriculum. • Creating the conditions that promote learning for all kids. • Ensuring shared responsibility and mutual accountability that

hold everyone responsible for fixing our schools, not just teachers.

AFT strongly supports charter schools

The American Federation of Teachers strongly supports charter schools that embody the core values of public education and a democratic society:

– equal access for all students; – high academic standards; – accountability to parents and the public; – a curriculum that promotes good citizenship; – a commitment to helping all public schools improve; – a commitment to the employees' right to freely choose

union representation.

What are the main concerns about the growing emphasis on charter schools?

Serve a small populationVary in qualityDraws resources from public schoolsDoes not serve as many special needs studentsDraws highly motivated students out of public schoolDoes not help to address problems in reforming all low

achieving schoolsMany educators oppose for-profit companies running

charter schools

Most teachers contracts reward teachers for longevity, each year of additional experience brings a raise. A masters degree, brings an average of a $5,000 raise in base pay.

• 98% of Illinois School Districts have contracts negotiated by bargaining units—

• IEA

• AFT

• Union contracts decide salaries, annual cost of living adjustments, pension, incentives, tuition reimbursements, health plans, and extra pay for extracurricular activities.

Does tenure means you cannot

fire a bad teacher?

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQa1Qu2Uec0