Sunday, August 12, 2012

More charter schools for Queens

From the Daily News:

More than a half dozen charter schools are vying to open in the fall of 2013 in Queens, the borough with the most school overcrowding in the city.

Seven of the controversial institutions have made it to the final rounds of the notoriously difficult state application process. Decisions are expected in October by the state Board of Regents and the SUNY Charter Schools Institute.

The proposed schools center on everything from working with foreign-born students to having a Chinese-based curriculum with mandatory martial arts training.

“Charters have a place in our educational system,” said Isaac Carmignani, co-president of the Community Education Council District 30, a northwestern Queens parents group.

But “what would concern me is if they’re...drawing resources away from our district schools,” he said. “I’d be concerned about co-location [in public schools.]”

James Merriman, CEO of the New York City Charter School Center, which supports the institutions, said there are only 11 Queens charters due to the dearth of available space in the borough.

There are 61 charters in Brooklyn, 44 in the Bronx, 42 in Manhattan and three in Staten Island, according to the center.

7 comments:

Liman said...

A charter school must provide everything needed for educating kids.. including suitable classroom space. It is not easy. That's one reason why charters almost always start small... but the real reason they start small is that a start up charter (that is not a conversion of an existing public school) can open union free, but ONLY if it does not have more than 250 students in year one. If it has more, it has to take the union along with it... and avoiding the teachers' union is the prime motivation to have a charter in the first place. If that 250 limit was not in the law, I'll bet you'd find bigger schools opening (which might help alleviate the crowding problem).

Anonymous said...

You said:A charter school must provide everything needed for educating kids...

You mean: A charter school must provide everything needed for educating the kids THEY WANT to educate- don't forget that mean only students without learning, behavior or language issues!

More "union free" charter school means more high need students squeezed into underfunded public schools.

That should do a lot to alleviate the crowding problem?????

Anonymous said...

The proposed schools center on everything from working with foreign-born students to having a Chinese-based curriculum with mandatory martial arts training.

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Didn't we just spend about 150 years fighting against things like segregation???

If i started a school with a "white based curriculum" with mandatory ice hockey and tennis lessons, i would get called a racist, but for other groups, its all good.


Anonymous said...

Schools are not underfunded. Almost $20k per student every year the highest dollar amount in the country and kids still are not able to read and write- unions + politicians= corruption

Anonymous said...

Just curious, do they still have reform schools?

We can't let a few bad apples destroy the learning experience for the rest.

Anonymous said...

We should all learn Mandarin Chinese shouldn't we?

That way we'll know when they're cursing or insulting or cheating us "White folk".

Anonymous said...

Don't use my tax money on charter schools!

If you don't like what's out there in the public realm...send your f-----g kids to a private school.