Charter Schools sponsored by Universities

[buck]

Okay since we got some people on here familiar with charter schools, what do you all think about them being sponsored by Universities? I read where Santa Fe South is going to be sponsored by OU and the Deborah Brown School in Tulsa is going to be sponsored by Langston. This sounds like a good idea, just want to get some thoughts on the subject.

[Midtowner]

Charter schools are educational laboratories. Only by trying can we see what works best. Also, they provide opportunities for students to go and choose the sort of educational environment which best suits them. They're a great complement to our public school system.

[bandnerd]

I think it would be great. My school has close ties with OCU, since it's so near, but they don't really "sponsor" us. As long as the school is still autonomous, and the university doesn't interfere with how things are run, then I see no problem with it.

[NE Oasis]

This is just ANOTHER example of what makes charter schools great.
The common refrain from most public schools is give us more money.
Although I realize most educators are underpaid higher salaries cannot fix the problems in public education.Charter schools try any and all ideas to improve education.

[Midtowner]

Originally Posted by NE Oasis

Charter schools try any and all ideas to improve education.

You forgot to mention two things:

1) That they do it with a lot less money than public schools; and
2) Many (not all) charter schools beat the pants off of the public schools when it comes to student performance.

True, not all charters are created equal, and test scores don't tell the whole story. For example, Justice Alma Wilson Seaworth Academy is a charter school in OKC which recruits at risk youth. Part of their mission is exposing these kids to positive activities and giving them hope. They score consistently very low, but they provide a valuable niche that the public schools aren't interesting in providing.

[bombermwc]

Not always true Midtowner. If you remember not just a few years ago, the carter schools in the OKCPS district were performing lower than the public schools and they considered removing the whole charter system.

And with Seaworth, they've been added to the NCLB problem school list, so it sucks for them that while they are providing a crucial mission, they are in danger of losing funding. There really should be some special consideration for alternative schools like that.

[Midtowner]

Originally Posted by bombermwc

Not always true Midtowner. If you remember not just a few years ago, the carter schools in the OKCPS district were performing lower than the public schools and they considered removing the whole charter system.

Sure there are bad charter schools, just as there are bad public schools. The thing about bad charter schools though is that they run a very real danger of ceasing to exist due to a breach of charter.

Further, API scores are obtainable with a Google search. Parents can make an informed decision as to whether their child should attend a particular school with minimal investigation.

The charter school system is a fairly new animal. Yes, when the enabling legislation passed, it took some time for the schools to come online. Further, API scores lagged because most schools took a few years to be able to publish accurate numbers since they mostly started with just a freshman class, then a sophomore class, then a junior class, etc.

Currently, however, there are some very strong players in the metro. Harding Charter Prep, Dove, Astec, etc. are all fine schools which will each provide students with a unique educational style.

And with Seaworth, they've been added to the NCLB problem school list, so it sucks for them that while they are providing a crucial mission, they are in danger of losing funding. There really should be some special consideration for alternative schools like that.

I'm torn here -- sometimes, all it takes to get a kid to succeed is an exceptional teacher. A little anecdotal evidence for you -- my younger brother is a teacher in another state at an "alternative school" (a place they send gang members, etc. so they can warehouse them apart from the general student population and continue to collect the state funds). His school has been around for some time now. He has a small class and is the very first teacher from that school to have any kids pass the end of instruction exams -- and this time, ALL of his students passed the EOI exams. No, he wasn't given the best kids in the school, he was just a better teacher than everyone else.

I think with the proper instruction, many (not all) of the kids in the worst places can be saved. It's just going to take a different approach. Fortunately, we have charter schools who are willing to gamble on experimenting with different strategies.

To complement Seaworth, I'd love to see KIPP go K-12.