React (based on your reading) to one of the two articles on Charter Schools issues that were provided as supplemental reading and discuss its connection to the readings about charter school policy.
When I read both of the articles, it made me more aware of how little I knew about charter schools, especially Why You Might Find a Charter School in a Mall because why would I find any school in a mall? I read through the article multiple times and picked out a couple of statements that struck me as interesting because it was not necessarily what I had heard about charter schools.
 |
| http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/might-find-charter-school-mall/print/ |
As a current teacher in a private school who previously taught in public schools, I was not aware that a charter school fell under either of those categories. I was under the impression that charter schools were not public, but not private, and that’s all I could articulate. The article provided some clarification that charter schools do fall under the umbrella of a “public school” because they receive state funding. Koran (2016) explained that “(Charter schools) are publicly funded schools that operate mostly autonomously” (p. 1). I didn’t realize that charter schools received funding from the state, but it’s not as simple as that. Is it ever? Gownley and Schmieder-Ramirez in School Finance (2015) said that in 1999, Assembly Bill 1600 “gives charter schools the option of receiving funding directly from the state, instead of through their local school district” (p. 22). Why is that legislation necessary though? Why is getting funding from the school district so complicated that charter schools need an alternative?
Another question that I had about charter schools was in regards to enrollment. The only thing I knew about charter school enrollment was that there was some sort of lottery system in place. In order to find some answers, I reviewed CCSA’s website and found that charter schools give “admission preference to pupils who reside within the former attendance area of that public school” (CCSA, 2012, p.1). Then the admissions area is expanded and additional enrollment preference is given to students in the school district that the charter school is located. Assuming that these two filters provide a high enough enrollment, when is the lottery system put into effect? Does it take the place of the previously stated filter?
The enrollment question has been a big question for me for the last couple of years. Previously, in Las Vegas there was an elementary school on our Air Force base (AFB), Lomie Heard, that was part of the Clark County School District (CCSD). Only students that lived in military housing were able to attend due to zoning. When Nellis AFB decided not to renew their contract with CCSD, they accepted a charter school’s bid to move onto the base. Is the charter school able to ONLY accept students from military housing? If it’s a lottery system, what if students from military housing aren’t chosen? Are families that are not military able to attend the school? Are families required to go through the typical military background checks if they are not military personnel? Is that something that can be required?
Koran, M. (2016). Why You Might Find a Charter School in a Mall. Voice of San Diego. Retrieved from http://www.voiceofsandiego.org/topics/education/might-find-charter-school-mall/print/.
Townley, A & Schmieder-Ramirez, J. (2015). School Finance. Kendall Hunt Publishing Company.
CCSA. (2012). Charter School Conversions: Myth vs. Facts. California Charter Schools Association. Retrieved from http://www.ccsa.org/blog/fact_sheet_Charter_Conversion_Myths_Reality.pdf.
No comments:
Post a Comment