Charter schools are the bees knees, or so they say. They claim to be the answer to all of our education woes, offering choice, innovation, and excellence to students and parents. But what they don't mention is that they're also a bit like a snooty country club, with some shady practices that make them less than public institutions. One of these practices is cherry-picking their students, only taking the cream of the crop and leaving the rest to rot. They enroll and keep the students who are easy to teach and likely to do well, and kick out the ones who are hard to teach and likely to struggle. This way, they can boast about their test scores and look good on paper, while the traditional public schools are left with the leftovers. So no, charter schools aren't making America great again. They're just making themselves look good by playing favorites.
A recent scandal in Philadelphia shows how this works. A charter school there was caught cheating on their lottery system to favor rich and healthy students over poor and disabled ones. That’s right, they were playing God with children’s futures, using a rigged game of chance. This is not only immoral, but also illegal, as charter schools are supposed to be open to all students and receive public money. If this is true, the school should be shut down and the people responsible should be locked up.
But this is not a rare case. There is evidence that charter schools all over the country have been doing similar things to shape their student populations, such as:
- Advertising themselves to certain groups of students and parents, while snubbing or scaring off others.
- Asking for large donations, transportation fees, or other costs that make them unaffordable for low-income families.
- Providing little or no information in languages other than English, or refusing to join the federal free and reduced-price lunch program, which can turn away English language learners or students from immigrant backgrounds.
- Having strict disciplinary policies that result in high rates of suspensions and expulsions, especially for students of color or students with disabilities.
- Offering a narrow curriculum that does not meet the needs or interests of diverse learners.
- Locating in areas where they can target certain demographics and avoid others.
These practices not only hurt the students who are excluded or pushed out, but also the ones who stay in charter schools. Education is supposed to be a way of empowering and uplifting people, but when charter schools create segregated and unequal environments, they do the opposite. Education is also supposed to be a way of bringing people together and fostering civic engagement, but when charter schools isolate themselves from their communities, they prevent that.
Charter schools have a duty to serve all students well, not just a select few. They also have a chance to be models of innovation and excellence, not just for themselves, but for the whole public education system. To do this, they need to be transparent and accountable for their actions and outcomes. They need to embrace diversity and inclusion as strengths, not challenges. And they need to collaborate with traditional public schools and other stakeholders to ensure that every child has access to a high-quality education.
