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Charter Schools:
The Educational Con Game Continues
By Jeff Bruzzo
Over the past few years, I’ve heard more hype about charter schools and how well they’re doing as opposed to “public” schools. As much as I like Glenn Beck, to hear them touted as the “catch all” for “failing” inner city schools, shows me we are all clutching straws in trying to figure how to fix the educational nightmare in this country. In Glenn’s own words, “watch what the other hand is doing” applies here.
I only wish there could be a team of teachers assembled, much the way doctors were empanelled for the health care crisis. But for now, you will have to take it from me, your humble NYC teacher of 10 years, to cipher through the labyrinth of truths and lies. Working for the New York City Department of Education has given me a first –hand view of how power, numbers, and money play the part of decider where student education is concerned.
First, let me start by stating that charter schools are not private schools… sorry to burst your bubble if you didn’t know it yet. They are set up as schools with public funding, governed by the very same failed educational bureaucracies that created this mess to begin with. Some may in fact get limited corporate funding; yet another mismatch, since big corporations are in bed with big government now a day. Please help yourself to the NY State Department of Education’s charter school page at: http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/psc/existcharter.html .
In their own words, “Charter schools are publicly funded and open to all students in New York State through a non-discriminatory admissions lottery. Each charter school is governed by a not-for-profit board of trustees which may include educators, community members, and leaders from the private sector. Charters have freedom to establish their own policies, design their own educational program, and manage their human and financial resources. Charter schools are accountable, through the terms of a five-year performance contract, for high student achievement.”
Here lies the key if you are following. I like to use my teacher terminology when I can; hopefully I’ll be more believable as I go against the machine and their media propaganda wing. Keywords and context: Teachers source for figuring out the meaning of something by using surrounding data… works well for adults too! Ready?
• Publicly funded
• Lottery
• Not-for-profit
• …from the private sector
• Establish & design own policies and programs
Sounds very familiar to the way schools are run in all public schools doesn’t it? By the way, “lottery” refers to the system of all public schools and districts allowing residents a choice as to where to send their kids; you can apply but get in line.
The real McCoy… what’s up with this?
It seems the realization that public school indoctrination, is having a detrimental effect on overall learning, has forced school systems to come up with an alternative and excuse to those “failing schools”. Leaders are quick to blame the teachers and the staff, so close the school and open up a charter school for the children’s sake. In reality all that was accomplished were the “bad” kids getting dispersed to other public schools, while the “good” kids get to attend the charter (public) school? It is clear by the scores originally coming in, that this is the case, but not by much. Remember the above bullet: Establish & design own policies and programs. They get to decide not to take children in need of behavior modification, special education, and bi-lingual; no wonder scores would be better, albeit slightly. Again, I would encourage you to surf the following web site of the Public School Choice (not our PSC) of the NY state education department. http://www.emsc.nysed.gov/psc/existcharter.html
What it means for the unions
Recently, I spoke with a higher up at the United Federation of Teachers (anonymous), who told me the only reason (besides needing an excuse for a failed system) was that, “the NYC Mayor and Chancellor want to bust the union”. Granted, though I am a member, I’m no big proponent of unions, period. But, looking at the preponderance of evidence around the problem, it becomes quite clear. NY’s progressive Mayor Bloomberg is in control of the schools and has his eyes on total control from top down on the way the city schools do business. He would rather close schools, upset the neighborhood, start up two new charter schools, claim the scores will go up, and ultimately have a school with no collective bargaining power. The end game is no tenure, teacher accountability to skewed test scores, and the right to hire-at-will, as I learned in the business world, before I was a teacher. All of this in the name of improving education under his reign… bull, read the DOE website which blatantly lies about ending social promotion, http://schools.nyc.gov/default.htm. Who would want to be subjected to this impossible impasse?
What it means for the teachers
As a teacher, it means longer hours, more accountability, and less freedom to “teach”, in a charter (public) school, with only a slightly higher pay check in some instances. Both sets of public school teachers in NYC are under fire for their careers. In a system which punishes, before it rewards, pays less than comparative degree figures in the private sector, and now wants to hold those very teachers accountable for the ills of society (read my article on Social promotion), who on earth would want to go into this career field? For those who think a teacher has got it easy and gets to many perks… come and take my place for a week… please! I guarantee you’ll be a convert before weeks end. Challenge!
The con game
In brief, it all comes down to the issue of government control. Control over your education is the overlying necessity for piecing together the magic act of increasing scores, when the reality is, tests have been “dumded” down to deflect the fact the system is failing… and failing mightily. The progressives set up this system of public education based on the communist manifesto, plank #10: Free education for all children in public schools. It’s like playing a shell game with your child’s education to keep you guessing. Which should I choose, the school with the government dictating what is being taught, or the school that is dictated what is being taught, by the government? Get big government out of your education, get rid of the useless tests, scale back on budgets, and focus more on teaching!
The solution: Home school cooperatives.
Yes, there is a solution in my view and it is growing, as the demise of public education is fastly approaching (severe budget cuts, etc.). Home schooled children have consistently outperformed every facet of public education and were the way education was taught before the invent of the public school systems in the mid to late 1800’s. It wasn’t until the turn of the last century, during the progressive era, that public schools began to turn away from the bottom up approach of community education, to the total top down dictation coming from the federal government today.
The following website outlines the benefits of home school cooperatives, which rely on community and not the federal government: http://www.maybewewouldbeamazed.com/facts.html
For now, I will leave you with the quote from a former British Prime Minister, Benjamin Disraeli, in the late 1800’s: "Wherever is found what is called a paternal government, there is found state education. It has been discovered that the best way to insure implicit obedience is to commence tyranny in the nursery."
The first half of the following video should drive home my point against public education... heed the words of Benjamin Disraeli! This video was removed from You Tube for no apparent reason!
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