I am a teacher in Southern CA and in my school district there are 11 charter schools. The districts enrollement has dropped dramacitally.Many of the parents enrolled their children into charter schools because of small classroom sizes, better middle schools and discpline. Most charters school screen their students and they usually do not take children with discipline problems therefore they end up back at the public schools. It is not that the charter schools are doing such much better than public schools but it gives the parents the illusion of thier children going to a private school. A few months back I read an article form the LA Times and some of the charter schools was not meeting their API.

In the state of Michigan, we have to contend with charter schools that are managed by for-profit corporations. These corporations are able to hide behind board of directors and the fact that they are not obliged to respond to FOIA requests.

The state has only one inspector to insure that these schools are doing a proper job.

Our district has been devastated by these schools. We had been a district of four elementary school, one middle school, and one high school - manned by 200 teachers. We have not closed a building(yet), but we are now down to 160 teachers. We know from transcripts and report cards that the five charter schools in our district do have not offered science or social studies. They offer no music plus a litany of other extra-curricular activities. We have also noticed that these schools seem to be places where different ethnic groups can self-segregate.

These concerns don't even begin to touch on the many problems that charter schools have created in our state.

I am a kindergarten teacher at a charter school in N.C. It is the first charter school to start in N.C. I think most parents like the environment of a charter school. It reminds them so much of a private school. This school was originated back in 1997. This school was different because no child was to be labeled regardless of their condition. Most parents with children who had issues loved this idea because their child would not be labeled. Many children came to our school with behavioral problems. It was looked upon as an alternative school.
For this reason, I think our test scores are low. In N.C. we did not meet AYP. We are considered a low performing school. I think if the students were screened before entering the school, test scores would be better.

I used to work at a charter school in Chicago, IL. While the president of the charter schools had experience in education, I believe he was more interested in opening up several charter schools for money. I think that parents get very excited because they think that it will be more like private school. However, it depends on the area that the school is located in. I worked in an impoverished area. The school was full of students that were not pre-screened. Therefore, the school was one of the lowest charter schools in that area. It also was full of teachers, as well as a principal, who were not certified. Charter schools are not what people think they are. Before you put your children in a charter school, evaluate the area that the school is in as well as the teachers that are working there.

Questions-
How can we accurately measure if a Charter school really benefits students? Do test scores alone evaluate a student performance? I truly believe a lot more needs to be observed beyond test scores before judging the effectiveness of a Charter school. For example, are the students developing skills above and beyond the norm? Are these students experiencing relative curriculum?

Family Experience-
I teach in an area where Charter schools are non-existent. Yet, my nephew back home in Texas attends a Charter school. This Charter school has put an emphasis on developing bilingual skills, but my concern arises when he can read in Spanish but his English reading skills are poor. We are in America! I am Hispanic, I teach Spanish, and I think it is important to be bilingual; but English should be a priority, considering we live in the U.S. I feel like he is being cheated. He is in a very awkward position: he speaks English fluently but cannot read it well; while he can read Spanish well but he cannot speak it fluently. There is something wrong with this picture.

I am sure there are good Charter schools out there. I like the way creativity is incorporated and “out of the box” teaching is done. All of this good and wonderful but are the proper measures taken when teaching these children? Are priorities mixed up? Do Charter schools want to gain so much ground and reputation that the essential reading, writing, and math skills are forsaken when teaching?

Do your nephew parents think that there is something wrong with the school's curriculm or are they happy with the charter school.

Of course, if you pre-screened your students your test scores would be higher. If we pre-screened students at the public high school where I teach, our scores would be higher. Charter schools take public money and should not pre-screen students. If a school wants to pre-screen students, charge tuition and don't take public money.

If charter schools really do improve student achievement, then this is a great thing. But I'm wondering . . . I guess I just need to see more proof before I make up my mind.

I don't think they realize it. They are caught up in the idea of it being a Charter school. I have tried to point out to my sister a few things that concern me but it is like talking to a brick wall. Just the other day she mentioned to me that they are wanting to teach Russian next year. All I thought was, "Oh my!"

They are happy with the projects students get to work and the field trips they take but there is a lot more students need to be equipped with.

Students are not a dollar sign. Each school receives money for a child that is in their school during the October count. We have lost our focus when we talk about where children attend school. All students have a right to public education whether in a charter school or a typical school. As was stated before, charter schools look more appealing to the middle class that cannot afford a private school for their child. As a teacher of six grade, I would love to sacrifice part of my salary to have a full or part time aid, or a smaller class size. Last year, we were all told that everyone in our building would receive a "bonus" for a 4% CSAP increase. A group of us felt it was insulting to think that we needed money as an incentive to teach our student. I wanted to see the money go into hiring more teacher aids or another teacher. As a public school, we do not have the luxury or "pre-screening" students. Students with behavioral issues and special needs are now a main focus at our school because they are unsatisfactory on their state testing. Last year, I heard my principal say that we wanted to focus our resources on the students that were on the boarder of partially proficient to have our number go up. My son has special needs, and the public school has done their best to give him a great education. I wonder, would a charter school even have given him the time of day? It is about the money, and displaying a great public image. NCLB is to hold teachers accountalbe for teaching students, but it is lacking in humanity for our children. If charter schools are really taking away money from the public schools, then we need to evaluate the reasons why. All schools are not created equal. Some areas have more money which means better resouces, more informed teachers, and better test scores. Better test scores equals more money, but lower test scores means less money and diminishing resouces. How can we compete with less money? It goes to say that the rich receive a better education, and the poor testers have money and resources taken away.