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Archive for the ‘charter schools’ Category

Parents with children attending San Antonio Schools are becoming very familiar with charter schools. The city of San Antonio is so large that it contains 16 separate public school districts. Among these the San Antonio Independent Schools District (SAISD) is investing heavily in charter schools. 12 of this San Antonio Schools’ district buildings currently house internal charter schools.

And internal charter schools differ from a traditional charter school model because they depend on local parents and school board members rather than the state. These San Antonio Schools require 80% approval of parents and staff to form an internal charter, whereas a traditional model must get approval from the State Board of Education. Both are funded with taxpayer dollars. The twelve San Antonio Schools have been awarded $4.7 million in federal grants to date.

The monies available for San Antonio Schools to start charter programs is what enables the administrators to provide specialized art, music or science instruction. The most notable aspect of the San Antonio Schools’ charters is their successes so far. Many charter schools in both Texas and around the country have been forced to close their doors due to inability to provide proper curriculum, adequate financial records, or proof of academic success.

However, the three charters among the San Antonio Schools have a record of success behind them. Hawthorne Academy, with a focus on social studies, boasts “recognized” status from the state, and a higher percentage of students passing the TAKS than its neighboring San Antonio Schools. An arts charter school, Austin Academy, shows similar results, and attributes it to the fact that the arts are used to enhance the academic learning of its San Antonio Schools’ students.

While many of the San Antonio Schools are too new to be evaluated, the SAISD obviously feels confident that they are successful, because they will convert six more to internal charters this fall. In addition to this innovative model, San Antonio Schools are integrating specific skill sets into the curriculum. The Riverside Park Academy became a technology charter in 2004, a bow to changing times. San Antonio Schools are expected to provide the charter with funding to give students podcasting equipment, and teachers interactive 3-D imaging whiteboards.

Part of the success behind these San Antonio Schools’ charter programs is that they address the minority and lower income population that makes up much of San Antonio. For educators of San Antonio Schools, the ability to provide a focus on the arts or on science amid the high stakes testing environment can be refreshing. Teachers at the San Antonio Schools’ charter programs see their successes as proof that education requires exposure to many elements, not just a targeted focused on the ones to appear on a state test.

Founded in 1842, the Detroit Schools are one of the nation’s largest public school systems. The Detroit Schools’ system is a district of choice, and is open to children who live outside the city. The district offers numerous academic and career/ technical programs. Among these programs are: the Foreign Language Immersion and Cultural Studies School (the only one of its kind in Michigan), Davis Aerospace (one of only a handful of schools in the country where students can obtain a pilot’s license), multiple award winning performing arts high schools, Detroit School of the Arts, and Crockett Technical High School (is a digital technology school).

The Detroit Schools consist of 232 schools; 147 elementary schools, 31 middle schools, 28 high schools, 12 special education schools, 10 adult education schools, and 4 vocational education schools. Approximately 143,490 students attend Detroit Schools. Student/teacher ratio in grades K-3 is 17:1. Detroit Schools have a “minority-majority” population; 91% of students are African American, 5% are Hispanic, 3% are White, 0.8% are Asian, and 0.3% are Native American. The Detroit Schools cover a geographical area that is 138.8 square miles and serves a city population of 951,270 people.

Several issues are currently being debated in the Detroit Schools. Among them are student achievement, as measured by the Michigan Educations Assessment Program, or MEAP, debate over lifting the Charter School cap, and shrinking student populations.

A recent study on how the Detroit Schools’ students are doing show that students have improved their reading and math scores since a federal program (No Child Left Behind) began pushing for academic progress. The report found that students’ performance in Detroit Schools increased in reading and math at both the elementary and middle school levels. More students showed a higher proficiency in reading than in math. The study examined 5 years of test, race, poverty and other student data.

Debate over charter schools is hot. Proponents of the schools, such as Daniel L. Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, said that “students make significant progress academically once they enroll in a charter school.” Detroit Schools’ District Interim Superintendent Lamont Satchel recently issued the following statement regarding a proposal to bring 25 new charter schools to Detroit: “The Detroit Public Schools system remains the best educational option for children in this city. We offer a richer variety of academic and extra-curricular options than both charter schools and neighboring public school systems. Above all, we vastly outperform charter schools in the city on standardized examinations.” The rich variety of Detroit Schools includes many different programs, ranging from performing arts, technology, media arts, commerce, finance, and, aviation.

Another issue that Detroit Schools are facing is a shrinking student population. Over the past 10 years, the district has lost more than 60,000 students. Much of this loss is due to the city’s declining population and shrinking birth rates, but a lot has been attributed to “poaching” from charter schools and neighboring public school systems. “This is a critical year for the [Detroit School] District,” said Lamont Satchel, Esq. “While we continue to face declining enrollment we must also confront the possibility of cuts in per pupil funding. …But we know that these problems are not insurmountable. We can overcome these challenges. And we shall overcome.”

The children of thousands of families within the Michigan schools are on waiting lists for admittance to charter schools. Not only does this underscores the parents’ commitment to school choice, but it also indicates their desire for their children to have a better education — one they obviously do not believe they can achieve in the traditional Michigan schools.

Like many other states, the Michigan schools has a cap of 150 on the number of charter schools each district may have. These caps were seen as necessary in the beginning for a couple of reasons: (1) To ensure they were successful before they exploded on the scene, and (2) to ensure the traditional public schools were not lost all together.

The Michigan schools is currently maxed out at the 150 maximum university-chartered state schools. There actually are 230 charters in Michigan, but 80 are exempt from the cap. For example, a Native American operated charter comes under the control of the federal government and is exempt.

Enrollment in charter Michigan schools was at 91,567 during the 2005-2006 school year. That is 5.3 percent of all Michigan schools students that year and up by 10,000 students over the previous year.

Not all Michigan schools charters are successful, according to reports. Overall, however, they are succeeding for some students where the traditional schools have failed. Though charters schools are not for all students, many parents seek educational alternatives for their children to get them out of the mainstream and into more innovative methods to motivate their children to learn. Many parents are tired of the problems with the public school system that is inadequate and produces underachieving young adults. Charters become an even higher priority for parents with children in failing traditional schools, appearing to be their way out.

Basically, charters in Michigan are independent public schools that generally are chartered by a state university. They have more flexibility in how they educate Michigan schools students, not required to adhere to all of the rigid rules that traditional schools must follow. Though many people mistakenly believe that charters take the wealthy, white students away from the traditional Michigan schools, the fact is that charter students are predominantly urban, minority and low-income.

As with traditional schools, charters receive per student funding with the amount being the same for all students. For charters, this means that there are few operating as high schools, since it costs more to operate grades nine through 12. For example, there are only five high school charter schools out of 22 total charters in Kent and Ottawa counties, with one closing this summer. More high school charters are needed with the long waiting lists and parents clamoring to have their children admitted.