In our desperate search for a solution to the education
crisis, we agreed to believe in the phenomena of the charter schools, popping
up left and right, as the answer.
Charter schools strive on what they are NOT, comparing to district
run schools. They are NOT the huge monsters that serve thousands of students. Their
teachers are NOT on a contract for the rest of their life. Budget distribution
is NOT under a strict scrutiny, thus can be applied to current needs. There are
NO layers of administrators between teachers and principal, making parents’
access far easier.
Sounds great, doesn't it? It is like sending your student to
a private school but without having to pay the huge tuition fee… right?...not
quite…
I have seen tens of charter schools in my area, maybe more.
I think I remember only one or two that at least left me with some tolerable
impression.
My first experience with a charter school was working at one
for an entire year. Wonderful teachers, dedicated administrators, OK students,
caring parents… but one thread connected all the problems we faced - lack of
professionalism. Staff members were good, smart and dedicated people, but not
professionals…
We did not have a defined academic plan or clear goals, nor
did we have a specific procedure for discipline. We had no textbooks for two
months, and worse – no facility for four months, not until January. In the meantime,
we were guests in a church hall, with only thin patricians separating one
classroom from another, with flying objects filling the space between the
classrooms. Everything was a ‘Work in Progress’, even though the school had
been operating for several years.
To make things worse - by March all the school funds were
exhausted and we were seriously considering shutting down the school and
dispersing our students…
After that experience, I swore never to work at a charter
school again, and to spread the word about charter schools whenever and
wherever I could… But reality bites, and after working at district schools for
a while, or worse, not working at all, you start wondering if charter schools
are that bad after all…
I was, since, interviewed by numerous charter schools. Many
of them did not hire me not because I was not qualified, but because I was over
qualified; credentialed, experienced, know my rights. It would be hard to make
me work extra hours and get paid half of what the public district pays… For
jobs that I did get an offer I just could not say yes. I just knew that I will
be miserable for the whole time, and yet, knowing myself, would never quit midyear…
(Not even if not paid, as before…)
I admit that I still apply to charter schools from time to
time, but I can affirm that I never found one that I thought would be right for
me…
However, as a substitute teacher, contracted with a
respectable agency, I do work at charter schools quite often.
Charter schools, often, choose weird places as their site; I
have seen charter schools in strange locations, abandoned buildings, with old
ugly structures. I was in a charter school that was right beneath two major
freeways intersection. I did not even think of the dreadful air pollution. What
bothered me most was the possibility of falling cars off those freeways and
smashing into a crowded classroom…
On one of my substitute assignments at a beginning of a
school year I was sent to a charter schools in the east side. The area was not
bad, the facility was oldish but quite OK, there was even something homey about
the small yard in front of the main office and the classrooms surrounding it. I
have changed my mind about the homeliness when I entered my classroom. It was not
darling anymore. This was a classroom with only few, old, chairs, and even less,
decorated with graffiti, desks; for sure not enough for all the students soon
to enter the classroom. Something else bothered me as I looked around, but I thought
it might be the unappealing look of the bare walls. Then I realized what was
wrong – there was no whiteboard or even blackboard… Later on, I discover a spot
on the wall that, apparently, was used as a whiteboard, but it was so small,
and its quality so poor, that it was unrecognizable.
But this was not the worst part… The bigger problem was that
it was the first week of the school year and the school did not have yet…
teachers. I am serious! This was a small school that should have employed about
12-15 teachers. On the day I was called to substitute, there were 9(!) other
substitute teachers signed up! And this was during a time when hundreds, if not
thousands, of teachers were frantically looking for a job… I talked to few of
the substitute teachers and they told me that they are trying to get hired at
that school but the school would not give them an answer… My guess? The school
was looking for a real cheap labor, and knowing how many teachers were out of
job, they were waiting to find the people who will be willing to work for the
minimum wage they had in mind…
Another charter school, to which I was sent recently, prides
itself as a science and math academy… Well, this should be good, I thought.
This is probably the model of school that, in our mind, the public education
system should have …
I arrived about fifteen minutes before the start of the
school day, and with the help of some students located the “Main Office”, the
main institution in every public school. I was completely surprised to find it
locked. A pleasant looking teacher arrived few seconds later and said “oh, it’s
close”, without much surprise, and continued on his way, and I was trying to
search my mind for possible instructions that might have directed me to a
different destination rather than the main office …
Few minutes later the secretary had arrived and asked if she
could help me. I told her I am a substitute teacher and the name of the agency
that sent me. Apparently she was not aware of the need of my services, and
disappeared for several more minutes to get the information. I was then sent to
a science class to replace a science teacher. I am not a science teacher but
with instructions and material to occupy the students I can manage to keep a
class full of 8th graders busy.
On the desk I found a big folder with instructions for each
day of the week. I was slightly alarmed by a note that asked me to administer a
final test and then grade it. I didn't think I was quite qualified for that,
but I kept reading the instructions. Then, all of a sudden, I realize that
these instructions were intended for the previous week, given by a responsible,
previous, substitute teacher… At that point I realized that I was on my own,
and tried to seek help from the… students.
The students told me that their teacher had been out for over
a month. She was pregnant with twins and probably would not be back after she
has the babies. They had, so far, 4-5 substitute teachers. When inquired on what
chapter in the book they are, they could not remember, and of course suggested
watching a movie…
I returned to the same school a week later, hoping things
have changed for the better. From students’ reaction (another substitute???), I
understood that not much had changed. A permanent teacher was not yet hired,
but few changes had been made to accommodate the situation. A psychology
elective class was replaced by a new elective - computers. When I asked where the
computer lab is, I was told - at the same classroom. “So where are the
computers?” I asked. No one could answer that. In the meantime the class was a
“study hall”, fancy name for “doing nothing” class. Other science and math classes became general “tutoring” classes (more “study halls”), and the only substantial
class left out of six-period day was algebra …
The case of charter schools is about public funds,
originated in our tax money, intended for public education. Charter schools divert
resources from the well-established district, to their un-established
institutions. They namely “steal” students from the district, depleting its finances.
District schools have a very strict guideline, good or bad, and ample of well-educated
and trained academic staff; administrators, teachers and aides. Charter schools
offer a very poor replacement.
Charter schools, in many cases, are financial expenditure,
generated by business people rather than educators. (Education, apparently, is a
very profitable business, benefiting from holes in the system). Unlike district
schools, they are not subjected to the same scrutiny, and are given years to
prove themselves and become accredited. In the meantime, and even after, they
have a very flex guideline…
As much as I disapprove the way the district runs, the type
of events described above would never happen under district domain; classrooms
without the bare minimum, unsafe locations, a school without teachers… As an
educator, it is painful for me to watch credentialed and experienced teachers
losing their jobs to unqualified personnel, who work for poorly managed charter
school, for less money, and are at the disposal of anyone – administrators,
parent, students…
Do parents blindly believe that their students get more in
charter schools than in the public school system? Did they know, for example,
that their charter school of choice had started the school year without
teachers? Or that their student’s science teacher in that “math and science
academy” had been away for two month without a permanent replacement?
Until someone absolutely proves me that students are doing
better in a charter school, not because it is located in an upper-class area,
and not because it refuses to accept certain type of students, and not because
it is quick to send certain students back to public district - I am very
skeptical! I do hope that a responsible politician will soon look into it… In the meantime - parents - never assume anything! Do check your premises, at least from time to
time…
For more - Read : "The Death and Life of the Great American
School System", by Diane Ravitch
