The Chicago Public School system is a bit of an enigma (wrapped in a mystery) that sometimes makes me scratch my head and wonder what wonderful, possibly illegal substances the people in charge might be ingesting. Case in point: Roger Mazany, interim chief wants to put a moratorium on all new charter schools for the next year.
His reason? There are 65,000 unclaimed seats in the district. The reason there are that many unclaimed seats? Kids are moving to charter schools because they offer a superior alternative to the local neighborhood school.
The problem with this supposed moratorium? The man who wants it to happen is going to only be in power for another month or so. Another problem? The network of Charter Schools are one of the few things keeping CPS alive. Parents put their kids on the waiting lists for the schools on a hope they'll eventually get access to better education, if only for a year. And the Interim Chief wants to crush that hope?
Charter schools (at least in Chicago) are student choice, non tuition schools. You apply, and your application is considered. Some have a focus- academic rigor, cultural experiences, arts, or science and technology. Whatever the focus is, there is no debating that it works. Overall High School graduation rate in the non-charter schools of CPS is somewhere around 50%. Charter schools average 60-75%, which is still not great, but something is better than nothing.
Charter Schools have longer school days, more options for extracurricular for students to participate in and extra staff development. Parents are required to sign contracts that detail their involvement in parent teacher conferences, reading to their kid at night and limiting TV and video games. In some cases, they host parent teacher conferences in the parent's first language so that the language barrier isn't a problem.
I ask again, how does proposing a moratorium on these schools help students? It doesn't. Once again, it comes down to the money. More Charter schools equals more buildings open and more of the administration's precious money spent. I think it's time we think of the kids in all this and maybe do something right for children who are at a disadvantage to begin with.
Helpful Links:
Sun Times Article: CPS should freeze Charter Schools
The two most successful network's reactions: More harmful than good
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