It is clear from the reporting in the Arizona Republic that the Cave Creek Unified administration does not understand what charter schools are about.
Charter schools are about…
- A clear, concise, and coherent curriculum across the all subjects, not just signature programs
- Direct instructions, not differentiated instruction
- Phonics and explicit vocabulary, not whole language
- Latin and Greek roots for elementary students, not World Languages
- Core literature reading lists, not AR\millions of words.
- Letting all students flourish and achieve, not focusing on the
- Mastery, not 21st Century Fluff.
- Guided instruction, not project based learning
- Hiring subject matter experts, not “highly qualified” teachers with no real world experience.
- Preparing high school students for competitive colleges, not sending 75% to in-state schools.
While this conversion may net the district some more funding in the short term, it ties the hands of future administrators and it will cost capital, override, SFB, and federal funding losses down the road and for all intents and purposes it is irreversible.
Chasing the money is nothing new in Cave Creek Unified (see overcrowding in the HS and the GWI appeal). but this is a tremendously wrong move for all the wrong reasons.
This quote says it all…
Burdick said that if the override had passed, the district would not have been forced to consider charters.
That is your perception of what a good charter school should be. Here is a link to the Arizona regulation on charter schools:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.azed.gov/charter-schools/info/definition/
Plenty of latitude in their definition.
Although I agree that the district's move to charter schools offers no real change for those schools I disagree with your description of what a charter school is. You have described one or two charter groups philosophies towards education however, that does not make it the only successful approach out there.
ReplyDeleteCharter schools were about offering parents a choice in education. Some charters approached this as a thematic approach while other charters took varying approaches. All are expected to improve academic achievement among the enrolled students. Those charters providing the education in turn are help accountable for delivering the academic progress described in their charter applications. A failure to follow the outlines of their charter or to deliver at the minimum the anticipated academic results often ends in the surrender of the charter.
It is unfortunate that the district's move to charter schools is one driven by funding and not one driven by a desire to improve the academic quality and experience across the district’s schools. One possible positive outcome is that district parents will now be able to choose the school they wish to attend. Hopefully this will lead to some improvement in the schools as they will have to compete with each other now as well as other districts and surrounding charters for students.