Kevin Kallaugher by KAL for March 17, 2023

Many teachers unions oppose charter schools, which they say reduce accountability, are a back door to school vouchers, and which remove funding from “regular” school rooms.

Well charter school only care about profits

Why don’t we just let the parents and students decide where they want to go to school?

The teachers unions were so evil here in Washington state during the pandemic. The poor students will never be able to catch up. The rich students were able to continue in school, but the poor students were left behind. Total evil.

Public money should not go to for profit schools. Teachers unions have improved education, not hurt it.

Charter schools have not been good for this country.

If you want to go to a Private ( Pirate ? ) school then why should my Tax money be used for a private education, The needs of the many outweigh the needs ( wants ! ) of the few !

The public cannot afford TWO school systems. We can’t support public schools AND support sending your kid to a charter, for profit school just because you think your kids are better.

That bus is most likely a public school bus, want to bet?

In Oklahoma the Catholic Church is trying to establish a charter school funded by public money. https://www.edweek.org/policy-politics/a-proposed-catholic-charter-school-is-new-test-for-religion-and-public-education/2023/02

When charter schools began (1993) here in WI, we were told that it was ONLY for students in families below certain levels of income. That it would be only for non-religious schools. We were told it would force public schools to “compete” and thus improve. “Naysayers” predicted that it would lead to a two-tiered educational system with public schools becoming the educators of primarily Special Ed. students.

Now, 30 years later, school “choice” has grown beyond low income kids, includes religious schools (I suspect the majority as they were the only ones with the infrastructure in place), and the “competition” is a stacked deck with public schools responsible for educating any student who leaves a choice school (while the $$$ stay with the choice school). And, at least in urban districts, the Special Ed. prediction is coming to pass.

The downward spiral continues as Special Ed. does require more resources and increases some parents desire to leave public schools. Of course, this “proves” public education critics’ argument that it’s those darn teachers’ unions that are at fault. It’s quite the vicious cycle.

I wish we had some of those unions in the south.

Did Huckabee suggest this one?

Slagging off teacher’s unions? So disappointing.

OK, let’s imagine that there is a neighborhood school, let’s call it the “Hill Street School”. It has good caring teachers and some very bright kids, some not-so-bright kids. In all, the Hill Street School works.

Now imagine that a system of charter schools is implemented by the city. Suddenly the kids good in math are whisked off to the math academy charter school. The kids good at science are whisked off to the science academy. The kids good at art are at the art academy. Kids good at writing are at the writing academy. The kids good at music are now at the music academy. What does that leave at the Hill Street School?

It leaves a school with low test scores, and a lot of conservatives pointing their fingers at the Hill Street School as a failing school, blaming the teachers’ unions, and demanding that the teachers be held accountable.

Unions are not against Charter Schools. In fact it was Albert Shanker, the president of the American Federation of Teachers and the President of the NY City teacher’s union who invented the term and pushed it in NYC. His vison was public funded but independently run schools. Teacher’s object to publicly funded, for profit schools. Schools that won’t allow teachers to form a union and protect their rights as workers. Schools that are designed to circumvent civil rights or separation of Church and State.

California has the largest and most powerful teacher’s union. It also dwarfs the rest of the country with the number of charter schools. Charter schools and unions co-exist quite nicely when they work together.

Why is this considered so godawful horrible by a conservative “comic”? The bus & its human animal riders are inconvenienced for a few moments to allow a nonhuman animal to cross the road safely. We’ve f*c*ed with nature too much already. We are all animals. All life on earth is important. Took nature millions of years to get where we were… everything in balance. How arrogantly ignorant human animals are to think they are the only important inhabitants. Our children and children’s children will pay the price of our hubris.

According to the OECD, US children rank 13th worldwide for reading ability, 18th for science, and 37th for math. Not bad, but probably not what is needed to remain an economic super-power. Are charter schools the answer? Maybe. For sure doing the same thing and expecting different results isn’t.

Charter Schools are an end-run around desegregation.

The governors who closed down the public schools did not have children in those schools. If they had school age children, those children went to private schools.

Disadvantaged children who were taken out of school for 1 or 2 years will never be able to catch up.

Just because the teachers unions wanted to take a couple of years off.

⇧ unbelievable. our favorite bigot managed to post a comment without including the word “woke”…

Good. Unions are workers uniting as a counterbalance force against the immense power vested in management. Unless you’re the CEO of a huge corporation (and even then, frankly), you should be very much pro-union. Only self-loathing ignorant people argue otherwise.

The more charter schools that are stopped the better

It’s always the Students that loose out.

the Betsy DeVos & Redpublican’s are still pushing your taxes for basically private schools