Can't Deny the Truth About Segregating Charters Anymore
The charter cheerleaders have been telling us, over and over again, that charters are "public schools" that "must take everyone."
Too bad for them that the truth keeps getting in the way:
Too bad for them that the truth keeps getting in the way:
Read the entire piece by Stephanie Simon, a reporter who, as Diane Ravitch reminds us, has done some really outstanding work on education. Simon shows that charters have developed a variety of techniques to segregate their students from the rest of a community's population:Students may be asked to submit a 15-page typed research paper, an original short story, or a handwritten essay on the historical figure they would most like to meet. There are interviews. Exams. And pages of questions for parents to answer, including: How do you intend to help this school if we admit your son or daughter?These aren't college applications. They're applications for seats at charter schools.Charters are public schools, funded by taxpayers and widely promoted as open to all.But Reuters has found that across the United States, charters aggressively screen student applicants, assessing their academic records, parental support, disciplinary history, motivation, special needs and even their citizenship, sometimes in violation of state and federal law. [emphasis mine]
But as Reuters has found, it's not that simple. Thousands of charter schools don't provide subsidized lunches, putting them out of reach for families in poverty. Hundreds mandate that parents spend hours doing "volunteer" work for the school or risk losing their child's seat. In one extreme example the Cambridge Lakes Charter