Dorie Rae Gallagher wrote: > One would assume then, that parents are not satisfied with > the education being given in the public school system. It > would make sense that the public school system needs to be > brought back up to standards that the public wants and feels > better about to get those children back from charter schools. > This does not mean closing schools, small or large that are > providing the education that is quality and being supported by a > neighborhood 100 percent. It is the children's education that > is at stake here and if a school is working and excels in educating, > it should not be closed. I personally do not think charter schools > are the answer..I believe people are opting for them due to the > quality of education in our public schools. This is the problem > to be solved and that does not get solved by closing schools. Don't > take the easy way out....
There are at least three different problems that Ms. Gallagher is confounding: 1) The quality of education in traditional public schools; 2) The differential costs of maintaining schools of less than 300 students; and 3) that Charter schools are public schools. These issues, while not entirely independent, really need to be dealt with separately. Re: 1. Whether the District should close small schools because it is cost effective is, for the most part, independent of the quality of education. Please be aware that in the research literature "small school" means ~300-400 students. Re: 2. I think that many people do understand the concept that consolidating saves money. If you have too many Starbucks too close together they will not be profitable. If you can serve the same number of people with minor inconvenience with just one then it is only reasonable to close the others. Re 3. Charter schools are public schools and as parents have said in the meetings in my neighborhood that they want a small school where they have more input and that their children can walk too then a charter is the most logical choice. The contrast between the "public schools" and "charter schools" is misleading. Public charter schools can be more economical because they eliminate much of the administrative overhead in a large school district. If we want to make rational decisions about education we should try to keep issues in perspective. However, I don't believe that is how the decisions will be made. In the end it will all be about power, connections, and politics not what's fair or best for children and the schools overall. Michael Atherton Prospect Park REMINDERS: 1. Think a member has violated the rules? Email the list manager at [EMAIL PROTECTED] before continuing it on the list. 2. Don't feed the troll! Ignore obvious flame-bait. For state and national discussions see: http://e-democracy.org/discuss.html For external forums, see: http://e-democracy.org/mninteract ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Un-subscribe, etc. at: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
