In my school district, the choice of public schools leave something to be desired. That's why I was very excited to learn of plans for the first public French-American charter school in New York City to open here in September 2010. My enthusiasm has dampened a bit since I've started researching and reading about charter schools and the recent charter school movement in New York.
Charter schools are a key part of President Barack Obama's plan for the reform of our education system. NYC's Mayor, Michael Bloomberg, also thinks that charter schools play a vital role in improving the city's public education system, and has made increasing the number of the city's charter schools a key initiative of his third term.
An article in today's New York Times discusses the city's strategy, thus far, of awarding space to new charter schools.
It's a debate that will only get more and more contentious as more public schools are closed down to reopen as charter schools, themselves public schools but supported with private money. Personally, I disagree with this tactic and feel that this is a way of privatizing our public schools, which I ABSOLUTELY disagree with. Why can't we invest in improving the schools we currently have?!
Should we continue to open new charter schools or should we work on improving our current schools? Please leave a comment and tell us your thoughts.
