Gblock;719778 wrote:while i am not against charter schools as a concept. currently there isnt enough regulation and there are way too many charter schools in ohio specifically in columbus that are a straight up scam. every year there is at least one or two of them that shut down often without notice halfway through the year after making millions and send the kids back to ccs after recieving no education for the year and then they are counted with our scores after only being in our schools for a few weeks. kids tell stories of no books, no lunch, teachers who dont care what you do an just give everyone an A. Charter schools should be required to take the same OAA tests as well as the public schools. currently 1 in 5 charter schools are failing.
evaluating some of the statistical studies that seek to compare charter vs. public school performance, recent investigations conducted by the Center for Research on Education Outcomes at Stanford University reveal that students' test scores may prove that public schools are now outperforming charter schools. As CREDO, a national organization devoted to charter school research reveals, the Stanford analysts compared reading and math state-based standardized test scores between charter school vs. public school students in 15 states, as well as scores in the District of Columbia. In fact, in further evaluating the data, experts found that 37 percent of charter schools posted improvements in math scores; however, these improvement rates were significantly below the improvement rates of students in the public school classrooms. Furthermore, 46 percent of charter schools experienced math improvements that were "statistically indistinguishable" from the average improvement rates shown by public school students.
Ultimately, this data surmises that in the category of math alone, only 17 percent of charter schools have reported achievement rates that surpass public school performance results. Similarly, charter school students' reading scores improvement rates were also below their public school counterparts.
for what it is worth - charter schools are public schools - they are subject to the same standardized tests as traditional public schools. also, when a student decides to leave a traditional public school and go to a charter school per pupil spending actually goes up in the school - the state funding that is set aside per student follows the student, but local tax dollars remain in the school.
also, regarding test scores, any data can be manipulated to serve the particular viewpoint. most people i've talked to feel that the ohio achievement assessment doesn't tell the whole story - some people test well, some people don't. the state uses a value added assessment, essentially looking at how much a student gains on the test in a given year. in some cases, ohio charter schools outperform traditional public schools when you consider value added methods.
and yes, in the beginning of the charter era in ohio there were lax standards, the legislature has worked to make schools more accountable - now they face a standard that perhaps we should enforce on traditional public schools - when the auditor looks at their books, if they are not in proper order they risk losing their state funding and charter.. essentially - if they aren't spending money appropriately and if they aren't able to show they are spending money appropriately, they will be shut down.
furthermore - if the issue is education, why shouldn't we give families as many options as possible? I have hundreds of options of what toothpaste i want to use in the morning, but I only have one choice for how my student will be educated? that is ridiculous - children are all different, and a one size fits all approach to education is outdated - competition creates a better product and school choice shouldn't be an option that is afforded to only those who are able to pay for private school tuition.
