Feb. 23, 2009 - Charter Schools
I've never been pro or con really. I didn't really think I could speak on the subject...until we tried one. I had heard the arguments against. I had even had friends who'd had a fairly bad experience with their own. Most of the arguments given to me had to do with issues of control. Many charter schools are very controlling over what subjects you can teach and even when you can teach. That would be very annoying and completely antithetical to homeschooling.
In our local area there is a charter school that is not like that. They promote themselves as a school of parent choice. For the past few months we have actually been a part of the charter school and have found this to be true. The only thing we are mandated to participate in is the annual testing. The school has been of the opinion that the test scores are not very important and have not overly stressed these tests. I had wondered when we began just how long their opinion of the testing would be able to stand. No Child Left Behind has constricted the freedom of the public schools to such a point that most in our area have become "teach to the test" schools.
I do have some concerns over the ideas the charter school we are in is planning on implementing next year but that was not my first problem. My problem has been the amount of money we are given per child. It bothered me from the very first order I filled out. I have not spent as much money total in five years of homeschooling as I spent this year. I bought things I never would have thought to spend money on just because it (the money) was there. This is a ludicrous reason to spend money. I have many friends locally who are in this charter school and they don't seem to have a problem with the money. All I keep thinking is...This is my family's money, this is another family's money. Is this how I would normally spend my money? Should I be taking money from another family to homeschool my children?
The situation has come to a head with The Rainbow Chaser (note new name for The Professor) starting Kindergarten in the fall. As I contemplated how much money I would have to spend on curriculum next year I began to get a nauseated feeling in my stomach. What nonsense this is all beginning to seem to me. We felt that perhaps if we "purchase" computers through the school for the two children who like to do school in this mode we could cut down a bit on the amount of money we would spend. When I asked our teacher about this we were informed that a typical desktop would cost $800. I was somewhat caught off-guard as we had just purchased a brand-new, very nice computer for less than $400. This has only added to my dissatisfaction with the way the money is used in the charter school system.
Whether or not I will become virulently opposed to charter schools as some folks I've known remains to be seen, but for now I can certainly say, I don't really think it is for us. I am working right now on some lists to present to The Dad to show how we definitely can homeschool without charter school money, or much of our own for that matter. I have a couple of hang-ups...keeping The Artist in Saxon, which is really working for this one, and The Artist's desire to learn Japanese. The other children will be solely using curriculum from Ambleside Online so we can get almost everything for free online or at the library.
If you have suggestions as to the Saxon and Japanese I'd love to hear them. Thanks.
(See other entries about various homeschooling topics here.)
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