Today we met with Maria from the Alliance for Quality Education. They work on getting the government to give Public Schools the funding they need and deserve. They often sue the government for underfunding public schools. She spoke to us about “the myth of charter schools” and how yes, they seem like a great solution but what happens to the kids who don’t get in, and what if all the extra money going to charter schools just went to the regular Public School system? Wouldn’t that help everyone not just those who were lucky enough to win a lottery? I believe it is almost like the idea of communism, yes it would be great if everyone was equal, but that is never really the outcome. In charter schools kids are to talk in a perfectly straight line, keep their hands in their pockets, make sure their uniforms are complete, not wear mis match socks, not write on desks, not chew gum and many more. Breaking even one of these simple rules could get you suspended. One kid was suspended 44 times in one year. If the school didn’t think a child was preforming well enough and wanted them out of the school, they would continuously suspend them for silly little things until they had an excuse to expel the kid. One teacher even called 911 on a 1st grader. It is possible some charter schools have a high success rate but simply because they expel all the kids who had trouble focusing. I think New York should try to base the education program off New Jersey’s. In New Jersey, if a school is struggling or needs more support, those are the schools that get extra funding. Less fortunate neighborhoods are not left behind.
