Charter schools are crumbling castles

Alisha Ramani

Time spent in school is quite an influential time in our lives. Schools are where we learn how to survive, if not thrive, in the vigorous marathon called life. Imagine a school that creates educational opportunities for parents, students, and teachers, using its independence to alter its curriculum and improve learning.

It sounds perfect, right? A castle on top of a hill, with a financial records, hold open meetings, or share how money is spent. Is this lack of transparency unimportant, or is it to hide truths they do not want the public to know? immigrant students from attending by requiring social security numbers or proof of citizenship. white picket fence to guard everyone inside. The reality is, the castle fails to acknowledge the bottom of the hill, where the village of everyone else lies, suffering because of the utopian castle.

Charter schools market themselves as non-excluding, but it is often not that simple If more students apply than the capacity of the school, attendance at a charter school is determined at random. However, their policies go against this inclusivity.

This is the effect of charter schools, where one independent school can affect other public and private schools connected by a chain that can never be undone.

The intended purpose of charter schools is to be publicly funded, yet have the freedom and flexibility in their curriculum to promote excellence in academic standards. California charter schools are tuition-free.

The sheer lack of information that charter schools share with the public is unnerving. The vast majority of charter schools, according to the nonprofit organization Public Advocates, chose not to disclose how their money was spent. Even though charter schools are funded by taxpayers, many will not share

According to the ACLU of Southern California, more than 20% of charter schools in California have exclusionary policies, like denying enrollment and expelling pupils who do not have high grades or test scores, do not meet a level of English proficiency, or whose parents do not donate their time and money. In addition, charter schools can have policies whose purpose is to prohibit

Another repercussion of charter schools is that they hurt public schools. A University of Oregon study found that the Oakland School District had lost 57.4 million dollars in a year because of charter schools.

Another study, by political economist Gordon Lafer, found California’s Oakland, San

Charter schools

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Diego, and East Side Union High School Districts suffer annual losses of $5705, $4914, and $6618 respectively for each student who goes to a charter instead of a public school

Can public schools afford to lose this money? Even before this, a lack of investment existed in the system. Teachers are already undervalued, underpaid, and under-