OUR HISTORY : FROM HUMBLE BEGINNINGS...
As you page through this yearbook, you may be asking yourself, "how did this all begin?" Forty years ago, Ray Budde, an education professor first suggested the term "charter" for use in education. His novel idea was to support the efforts of innovative teachers to have more responsibility over curriculum and instruction as well as greater accountability for students' achievements. His ideas got little response. It wasn't until the mid 1980s with the publication of A Nation at Risk and A Nation Prepared: Teachers for the 21st Century, that the public took notice of the possibility of something new. In 1988, Al Shanker, president of the American Federation of Teachers suggested that teachers set up their own schools in already existing school buildings. He said the best name for these schools came from Ray Budde: charter schools. Charter schools got a further boost in 1988 when the Citizens League published Chartered Schools = Choices for Educators + Quality for all Students. The movement for charter schools is a grass roots movement with little or no government support or involvement until 1991 when Minnesota becomes the first state to adopt legislation supporting establishment of charter schools in the state. Throughout the 1990s, the charter school movement gained momentum and many more states took up the cause and added charter school legislation. In 2000, Minnesota won the Innovation for American Government Award from the Kennedy School of Government for the state's chartering law. By the end of 2010, only 11 states have no chartering laws. A pretty smooth path to success, right? Well, not so smooth all the time...
Our opponents have been busy trying to provide evidence against our methods and strategies. Critics suggest that charter schools skim the best students from the public school population and don't take those with special needs or learning disabilities at a proportionate rate.The very students that tend to drag down scores in public schools are those left behind (Lee, 2014). Some opponents of charter schools cite studies which indicate that charter schools have not succeeded in the mission to raise test scores. One study by Stanford University found that although charter school students showed improved test scores in reading and math, those improvements were less significant than the public school counterparts (Stanford University, 2013).The most common argument is that charter schools funnel much-needed funds away from already financially strapped public schools. In a 1999 article, Marc Bernstein suggests that public schools will end up with fewer dollars to educate their students and these funding decreases will most likely lead to poorer academic results (Bernstein, 1999).
So what does the future hold for charter schools? Public debate will continue and this is not necessarily a negative thing. Through debate, one would hope that the best interests of the nation's children will be considered as the main impetus for any change. One innovative idea is that of "hybrid" schools which attempt to offer poor children "the experience of a private education within the context of the traditional public school system, using union teachers." (New York Times,2014). One thing is certain; education will continue to transform itself well into the 21st century.
Our opponents have been busy trying to provide evidence against our methods and strategies. Critics suggest that charter schools skim the best students from the public school population and don't take those with special needs or learning disabilities at a proportionate rate.The very students that tend to drag down scores in public schools are those left behind (Lee, 2014). Some opponents of charter schools cite studies which indicate that charter schools have not succeeded in the mission to raise test scores. One study by Stanford University found that although charter school students showed improved test scores in reading and math, those improvements were less significant than the public school counterparts (Stanford University, 2013).The most common argument is that charter schools funnel much-needed funds away from already financially strapped public schools. In a 1999 article, Marc Bernstein suggests that public schools will end up with fewer dollars to educate their students and these funding decreases will most likely lead to poorer academic results (Bernstein, 1999).
So what does the future hold for charter schools? Public debate will continue and this is not necessarily a negative thing. Through debate, one would hope that the best interests of the nation's children will be considered as the main impetus for any change. One innovative idea is that of "hybrid" schools which attempt to offer poor children "the experience of a private education within the context of the traditional public school system, using union teachers." (New York Times,2014). One thing is certain; education will continue to transform itself well into the 21st century.
...TO A HOPEFUL FUTURE!
