Charter Schools vs Public Schools

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Permalink Reply by Whirl_wind on November 9, 2008 at 11:45am

If we had a charter school, I would probably have considered it. My opinion, is if you have a great public school, use it.

My girls go to a private school, but I've been less then impressed with our public schools (and the stories I hear from friends confirm my opinion).

Check with the charter school to see if they offer any services. I was surprised when I found out that our private school offers speech classes (which I'm in the process of trying to get my youngest into). They have only been doing so for about threee years, but it's great to have those services.

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Permalink Reply by Dana on November 12, 2008 at 8:23pm

As a public school teacher...I do not agree with the charter schools. There teachers are qualified like the public school teachers and they still all of our funding.

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Permalink Reply by jazzy on November 13, 2008 at 3:24pm

Here in LA, we have a ton of both public, private and charter. Choosing a school is like buying a home, and it took us forever! Most of my friends, coworkers and everyone else I know have abandoned public school, because of the politics and corruption that has and may possibly still take place. After a lot of consideration, I chose to go with a public school that I felt comfortable at, and my son has loved for the past 2 years.

I think this is a question you really have to answer for yourself after a lot of hands on investigation. You know your child best and his needs.

Also, in RE: to the charter schools commentary, 80% of the ones here have MORE THAN QUALIFIED teachers and are parent funded. They are usually geared towards a specialty i.e. arts, science, multicultural learning etc. I would've chosen a charter school, but I got a better feel from the kinder program at our home school instead.

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Permalink Reply by Mary on November 13, 2008 at 3:40pm

My children go to DoD schools but from what I've heard charter schools are better. But as you said, it all depends on what you're looking for in a school and what needs you may have. You can always try at least one school year and if you don't like it switch schools.

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Permalink Reply by Jerri Ann on November 17, 2008 at 5:29am

Our only option is public school, private school (religious) or homeschooling. My oldest son happens to talk way tooooo much but when he closes his mouth long enough, he is way ahead of his class. My husband attended a charter school and we would definitely go that route if that were an option.

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Permalink Reply by annesg on November 17, 2008 at 5:48am

Charter schools are independently run, so they vary widely in quality and teaching style/methods. In my county we have Montessori charter schools, rigorous "classical" charter schools, and more. You really have to do your homework and remember that what might be good for one of your kids might not be for another. Our public schools have a great reputation and I have my kids in one now (we moved from FL where my kids went to private school), but we're looking at charter, too, and I'm facing the fact that my kids might end up in 2 different schools!

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Permalink Reply by Adriana Velez on November 17, 2008 at 5:51am

I'm working with a group of parents in my neighborhood on creating a new middle school that will make use of a more progressive approach to learning. As we've done research it appears that we will have greater freedom if we go charter, even though we all understand the political argument against charter schools.

From what we've seen, charter schools (at least in NYC) are most often created for at-risk students and have a more traditional, "no excuses" approach to education. What we're after is something more innovative (challenging in a more engaging, experiential, holistic way).

I think when you're looking at a charter school you have to ask questions about their approach to learning and the qualifications of their teachers. Are teachers people with little education background working off a script or are they certified professionals? The phrase "aggressive learning programmed charter school" would make me nervous. Sounds like a lot of homework and not a lot of preparation for these kids to become independent, curious learners, which is the kind of education our kids really need in order to meet the challenges of the future and compete on a global scale.

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Permalink Reply by Jennifer Akers on November 17, 2008 at 5:55am

Our son attended a public elementary school, and we were very happy with it. We chose a charter school this year for middle school. We weighed the pros and cons of public vs charter, and like you, we wanted advanced academics and speech services.

Our main reasons for choosing the charter school: we liked their academic programs, geared toward higher achieving, creative kids; smaller school size; and year-round electives, like PE, art, Spanish and music (which are only offered per semester at public middle schools). We didn't find an equivalent in the public middle schools offered in our area. The charter school offers limited speech services, and it adequately covers our son's speech needs.

My advice is to find out the programs offered at each school. Speech services are important; the charter school may offer speech that will cover your son's needs. Obviously, you want him to be challenged academically, so I'd ask the public school about meeting your son's advanced needs. It may come down to the teachers' efforts, if the school doesn't have advanced classes. In our experience, our son wasn't challenged every year at public school, but many times, his teachers made the extra effort to give him challenges.

The end decision was based on knowing our son's abilities and choosing the best program to meet his learning needs.

Good luck with your decision.

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Permalink Reply by Amber Star on November 17, 2008 at 5:58am

We chose a charter school for our daughter because it is Spanish immersion. Our neighbors send their kids to the public school down the street and are more than happy with it. Every school is going to have things that are great and things not so great, you have to make a choice depending on your child's needs and skills. Many of the charter schools around here are specialized, such as the Spanish immersion, there are some that are focused on the arts and some focused on literature.

For our daughter, the extra challenge of learning in Spanish was a necessity. She was reading when she turned four and she needs to be challenged. She went through the kindergarten curriculum in pre-K, so for her to sit through the same curriculum again would have been boring for her. Learning the basics in Spanish was an enjoyable experience and is something that gives her a lot of pride.

Only you know your child and what your child needs, so evaluate your choices and go with your gut. It really doesn't matter what everyone else does, it just matters that you do what you can to keep your child as interested and happy in their school environment as possible.

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Permalink Reply by Kristen M. on November 17, 2008 at 1:56pm

My kids attend a charter school. My son (kindergarten, age 5) was recommended for speech by his teacher. Where we live speech is "included". My kids attended public school in the last state where we lived. In that state charter schools operated more like private schools. In our new state charter schools are a dime a dozen. We choose ours simply because it was up the hill from our new house. Our particular school places a heavy emphasis on student character and citizenship. Other than that it doesn't feel any different than our last public school.

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