http://klauspood.livejournal.com/ (
klauspood.livejournal.com) wrote in
davis_square2011-12-08 12:42 pm
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
Entry tags:
Proposed new charter school
There is a proposal for a new charter school in Somerville. The state (DESE) will be reviewing the application for the next few weeks and will possibly grant the charter on February 28th. If granted this charter school will undermine the existing Somerville Public Schools by reducing school funding by nearly $5 million a year, which is almost 10% of the current school budget. This cut in funding will lead to devastating cuts in public school programs, loss of 60 -75 teachers, and potentially closure of an entire school. This would represent a huge set back for public education in Somerville, setting back much of the progress that has been made in our schools in the last 25 years.
There will be a public hearing by the DESE on this on December 14 2011 at Somerville High School. More info can be found at:
https://sites.google.com/site/progresstogetherforsomerville
http://www.thesomervillenews.com/archives/21168
http://www.doe.mass.edu/news/news.aspx?id=6532
no subject
Your argument is ridiculous in the face of the reality of charter schools.
Not sure why the name calling, but...
I also did not say all special education students will be turned away, but there is a portion of them that can and probably will be, mostly the ones requiring the most expensive services.
As for the term ridiculous, I am not sure why you need to be so nasty.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
I live in a community that's torn over its own Charter School and constantly arguing. Both sides usually don't have the facts straight and I don't believe that your fiscal assessment here is entirely accurate either, but it's gotten to a point with me where I'm so tired of hearing it. It seems like it comes down to: We don't like the idea of a quality, free education for the kids that can get in if we can't get the same. Start another Charter School then! Not all kids thrive there either. I have a few friends who pulled their kids from the MVRCS and they're doing better in traditional public schools.
And frankly, it pisses me off that the choice people against Charters would rather leave everyone with is: 18,000 USD private school tuition for Kindergarten, parochial education, or generally sub-par public education. I support charters because they do provide a better learning environment for no cost and because the fiscal impact on the communitys school district has been virtually non-existent wherever you look.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
no subject
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
Somerville's MCAS scores
Your school isn't serving the needs of some students, so it should lose money.
Re: Your school isn't serving the needs of some students, so it should lose money.
In other words, I have so far failed to see what in the current charter school proposal is novel and improved compared to the district schools, other than the fact that it would not involve the "dreaded" Somerville School Committee. (And that includes the ELL offerings.)
Last I checked, the School Committee is an elected office. Perhaps the founders of the new charter school should consider that if they truly want to help all Somerville students.
Did you get a chance to read the proposal? It's wonderful!
(no subject)
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
There IS evidence that public schools suffer when a charter school is opened, and "creams" off the higher income, engaged families. The kids that need help the most help, low income, language challenges, and unengaged parents don't even get a chance because the families are often not even aware of the charter school option.
There is something called a "Horace Mann Charter" which is a charter school that is part of the existing school district. I think this might be a really good option to consider for Somerville.
This program is one of the good ones...
This group was started, from what I've read, by parents who believe the schools are not serving their kid's needs and who believe that they can do better.
So maybe you understand now why this might actually be a very good thing for Somerville?
Re: This program is one of the good ones...
I think their intentions started out good, and that they truly were not happy with how the schools were serving their kids' needs and wanted to find a way to do better. But I just don't see 'better' in any of the bullet point items they propose to do.
Really?
Re: Really?
OK, so don't send your kid there.
Re: OK, so don't send your kid there.
Re: OK, so don't send your kid there.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
I'm not overall against charters, and I think PHA is serving a useful purpose in our community, even though the math hurts our school budget in a similar way. But I don't think our school budget can actually support two charter schools without really hurting the existing elementary schools, and I think there is a way to create more options for kids without this particular charter at this particular time.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
So yes. I do have a slightly vested interest in the square. Thank you for enquiring.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
We all live on planet Earth, thus we all care about what happens here. :-)
Also, many of us care about the kids we are related to or friends with in Somerville.
Re: Not sure why the name calling, but...
In the the end an elementary school's worth of students is projected to attend teh charter school rather than the public school, so the budget probably can't withstand losing an elementary-school's worth of budget (and then some) without closing an elementary school -- since they can't close a portion of each existing elementary school even if the numbers are just down proportionally throughout the system.
The charter school is a public school.
no subject
Charter schools typically pay teachers less because they are not required to hire unionized teachers.
In Somerville the PHA Charter schools testing scores are not better than the Public Schools.
Charter schools per se are not a bad thing, they have their place. But this particular proposal will not be a good thing for Somerville.
I suggest your read the NYT article...it really open my eyes. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/05/opinion/why-school-choice-fails.html?_r=3
no subject
no subject
no subject
"Like all charter schools, enrollment will be determined by a lottery in early March. Preference will be given to Somerville residents, though all Massachusetts residents may apply. Within each of these larger groups, the lottery will be entirely random with no student receiving any advantage."
Now, I think this is a crock, myself, but if that's the way it's supposed to be run, how the hell is this going to do anything except privilege the lucky few and screw the rest by depriving them of resources?
no subject
no subject
1) This will take exactly the same amount of tax dollars.
2) It will not solve the stated problem, which is that the Somerville school system, shockingly, does not do that great on the MCAS. Gee, I wonder if that's the school system, or tied to, say, the fact that not every kid in the system speaks English as a first language, or class size, or any of a number of problems that have been found to be major factors in standardized test performance.