Posted on 07/20/2008 7:23:09 AM PDT by wintertime
The fact that charter schools have posted some of the highest state test scores among Buffalo schools this year speaks to the validity of what was once considered an educational experiment. As recently reported, a couple of city-based charter schools posted math and English test results among the best of any schools in Erie and Niagara counties — and charter schools significantly outperformed the city’s traditional public schools.
Tapestry, South Buffalo, Elmwood Village and Buffalo United consistently ranked in the Top 10 among all Buffalo schools in the recent math and English tests. Community, Westminster and Pinnacle schools appeared in the Top 10 several times.
Not all charter schools are created equal. A couple of years ago the State University of New York closed Stepping Stone Charter School, and Sankofa Charter School was closed at the end of this school year.
But the validation of the experiment in alternative school structures and education practices continues — the point of the charter school initiative, in the first place. Charter schools operate under far fewer constraints on personnel and scheduling, providing more time on task while allowing music, arts and physical education. There’s also an emphasis on tests that make or break a school as the main criteria for renewal.
Charter schools still have their critics, and recruiting and maintaining enrollment is a universal struggle. But competition should be feared only by the uncompetitive, and charter schools still can serve not only as good educational institutions but as laboratories for the development of best educational practices. That was the challenge they were set; it appears that, for the most part, they are passing the test.
(Excerpt) Read more at buffalonews.com ...
I don’t believe that parents pay tuition for their children to attend government charter schools.
But..hey...You seem to know New York. Do they?
This is the biggest load of manure I have seen in a long time.
If you can afford to send your child to a chareter school you can afford to move to a better district.
If you can afford to pay the tuition of Homeschooling, you can find a way to move to a safer school district.
If you want something bad enough, you will find a way to do it.
You spend to much time saying why something won't work instead of how to fix it and make it work right.
verga, Charter schools don't charge tuition to the child or parent. They are government schools.
But..hey...You seem to know New York. Do they?
I can only speak for several charter schools in Buffalo. Everyone of them has some sort of cost involved.
They fall under the headings of School uniforms (some not all) Sports uniforms, musical instruments, various lab fees, etc.....
Stepping stone charged a fee.
I’m originally from the immediate Buffalo area myself.
Stepping stone charged a fee, and this was on top of the "tuition" that the teachers had to pay to "volunteer" there
I left for Sunny Va almost a year ago, Love the Shenandoah valley
We’re in CNY now but I’d love to head a little further south once the kids are out of college.
Charter schools are government schools, AKA public schools. But to you children who attend public school attend government institutions.
Would you care to explain your obvious discrepancy here?
Would you care to explain your obvious discrepancy here?
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Have you noticed that I often say traditional government institutional schools or merely government institutional schools?
The term “public school” or “government school” is not adequate any more because this term does not describe what type of government schools.
Types of government schools:
* Traditional institutional schools in big brick and mortar, prison-like settings.
*Charter schools.
* Magnet schools
* Advanced placement schools such as Girls High or Boys High in Philadelphia or Stuyvesant in New York.
* On-line schools
* And some cities are even experimenting with boarding schools.
All of the above are government schools ( or as you would say, “public” schools even though the children of the general public can not attend)
If I say “institutional school”, I am referring to both private and government schools that are in brick and mortar, prison-like buildings.
Again....There are many varieties of private schools as well.
You blew your arguement right there. That is just YOUR personal opinion.
Many, and I mean many of the schools you describe far more resemble your "institutional" schools than the ones around here. Lots of open space and grass, lots of windows, the only fences are around the ball fields -- which you're going to find anywhere.
A "government institution" is a government institution, you can not pick and choose how you wish to define such.
It is a public school or it is a government institution.
You need to stick to one phrase -- it's either an institution or it is a school. You can not pick and choose by changing YOUR "definititon" when it suits you.
Really? :)
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I am not the only one who thinks most government institution schools look like prisons. I didn't even invent the idea. John Gatto did!
Of course it is **MY** opionion. In my opinion most government institutional schools look like minimum security prisons. Their playgrounds look like prison exercise yards, and this is expecially true when the kids are let out for a little exercise.
Really? :)
Oh PULEEEEEEEEEEZE
Even my 10 year old doesn't react that way to me.
My point is, you can't have it both ways.
I have commented in the past that you remind me of the Nanny Statists, particularly of the anti-smoker type, who have a my-way-or-the-highway mentality about their particular special interest and will rearrange their phrasing or change their chosen words to suit the moment.
I've gotten the exact same type reaction out of them.
BTW, I notice you haven't participated in any of the Nanny State threads, I di add you by your own request, but it's a very simple request to be removed if my pings are bugging you.
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Gabz, I am sitting here laughing. If I don't do what you say, what would you do? :-)
Thank you for finally admitting it is opinion, not fact.
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