Moms Talk: Are Charter Schools a Better Option?

Waiting for Superman is a controversial movie that has made its way to the local Redbox. I picked it on Tuesday, and watched it on Wednesday. I was saddened to watch many children who have dreams of grandeur waiting on the lottery. Now without even seeing this movie, think of the local lottery. You buy a ticket, and you have a one and a million chance of winning. This is the case for many charter schools, and the chance for our children to get a good education can all come down to luck. But I don’t wantt that for him. So I am looking for a school for my son, I decided to look into charter schools and here is what I have found.

Charter schools, as the US News and World Report explains, are publicly funded institutions that operate under their own standards of conduct and curriculum. Although these institutions are funded by tax dollars, charter schools are ultimately given the freedom to establish their own methods of operation, similar to how many private schools are able to operate their instructional and social practices. Racine has two charter schools:

One of these is 21st Century Preparatory is located on Mound Avenue in Racine, The charter is held by Gateway Technical College, and is an elementary and a middle school. Now as usual I utilized the WKCE test results for a quantitative measure and it appears that the school is very competitive in the elementary range, but where there was an incline was in the middle school arena. But the test scores were higher than all of their public school counterparts. I went to visit the school on Thursday. What impressed me was that the children were all in uniform and doing what they were supposed to be doing.

The REAL school that is located inside Olympia Brown is the second charter school in Racine.  This charter is held by RUSD, and allows the children the ability to be involved at district activities, and sports. Again, I looked at WKCE test results, which at this school are excellent at 91 percent proficiency in reading. I went to visit the REAL school and was prepared for chaos and lack of structure. What I found however was a very organized and amazingly respectful group of children. They also take block classes, which is similar to college therefore preparing students to transition smoothly right into college.

Charter schools have their sign ups in February and so if you wanted you child to attend any one of these schools you submit an application and then cross your fingers. The REAL school stated that they had well over 100 applicants for the 25 spots available. I did not ask for a number at 21st Century Preparatory, but can imagine it would be somewhat similar. When you have successful schools wouldn’t it be ideal to copy them and create more so that we as a community can meet the need.