CHARTER SCHOOLS

Dear Tom:

            Education was a little simpler in your time.  Here in South Orange County the big discussion in educational surroundings is the onslaught of parents trying to form Charter Schools.  I submit that there may be places where charter schools are useful, but here in  South Orange County it tends to be another case of the “Housewives[1] of Orange County get Bored” When housewives who live in relative wealth who of course don’t work[2] get bored they need a new “project”. And what better a project than to take over the local educational system. After all, wouldn’t local housewives know more that educators who dedicate their life studying the art of teaching children?

            What they’ve done in my town is that they are on the cusp of destroying a school with a fabulous and rich history in the community. A State Blue Ribbon School (last year) with a history of good test scores. You say “How does this happen?  Shouldn’t they only be allowed to replace schools in problem areas with low scores?”  Well, the democracy that you help found sometimes doesn’t think when they vote with their ambitions as opposed to their brains.

            Charter Schools in South Orange County are filled with myths that the populace in general has no idea of:

• The Charter School will tell you that everyone is welcome and they draw names from a lottery to fill allotted student numbers. Yet why do they request copies of student records, social security numbers and IEPs before the selection process?  Well the answer is they want to form their own little “perfect classroom” with no low achievers, no distracting special education kids and certainly no “non-citizens.[3]” After all, once all those lesser valued kids are taken out of the classroom our kids will flourish won’t they? For sure, the test scores will go through the roof and somebody in the Charter School is going to make a lot of money as more parents chase the great white dream.
• Charter kids through the eighth grade will be sharing a campus with regular public school kindergarten through fifth graders. They say the kids will work together in harmony and not bother each other. Do you want you first grader sharing a restroom with an eighth grader?  I don’t, charter or non charter[4].
• No one has addressed the fact that the Charter School has not hired any teaching staff yet other than well paid administrators. Now, lets look at who is out their to be hired as teachers…kids who just graduated from college and teachers from school districts who were either subject to layoff or released because they were temporary. Certainly no currently employed experienced teacher will join the charter movement because the pay scale is approximately 50% lower than normal public school teachers (who already have the lowest professional salary amongst all professional vocations.) I for one would much prefer my kids to have the typical public school teacher with approximately 20 or more years of teaching experience who can recognize immediately a child’s learning aptitudes as well as deficiencies and learning disabilities. It’s all a ruse, The “Orange County Housewives” think they will be able to control these young teachers and make them well aware that in these tough financial times they are lucky to have a job and therefore they will finally have the control they set out for.

             I don’t know Tom; I always thought that what’s the old saying… “A good teacher is like a candle – it consumes itself to light the way for others.”  It just seems sad that so many teachers are being “consumed” by power-rich upper establishment bored “housewives.”  What do you think?

            Very truly yours,

        
            M.E.K.

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[1] “Housewives” is used here but is meant to be interchangeable with members of both sex, male and female

[2] work would lower their social standing, as opposed to the mandatory charitable work which is expected

[3] Sounds a little like Hitler’s “perfect society “doesn’t it?

[4] Has anyone thought about the increase in traffic in the neighborhood alone with over 500 additional students attending the local school?