SECorBust

http://southtownstar...ic-schools.html
The problem with this plan is that charter networks, unlike true public schools serving all children, select their students — not based on test scores but on who fits in academically, socially and, let’s face it, politically. Charter schools enjoy ample public funding, but there’s a lack of accountability, and they are unencumbered by the rules and regulations to which public schools must adhere. And their spotty track record and dubious academic results face little scrutiny from the press or public.

This masquerade of “school choice” is really “school chance.” If a child doesn’t gain admission to a charter school through a lottery or does not meet charter criteria — perhaps because they have learning, physical or behavioral challenges or speak English as a second language — they are left to go, where? To the remaining public schools, which may or may not be anywhere near their homes.

So these students enroll, bringing their academic and behavioral problems with them, leading to more overcrowding, and overloading teachers, counselors and social workers already stretched too thin. Predictably, even our most well-performing schools begin to falter and test scores decline. The schools are then penalized by CPS for their stumbles and resources are cut.

This downward, deliberately planned spiral plays out: Perhaps these schools soon find themselves on the list of failing schools, facing closure, and another charter school sweeps in. The plague spreads. More and more schools fall victim. Corporate interests backing charters circle for the untapped potential for profit (supplying charter schools with books, computers, facilities, food services, etc., all on the public dollar) until public education has been completely privatized.

Certified teachers are passed over in favor of more cost-efficient (lower-paid) ones or for online learning programs requiring no teacher at all. Vulture capitalists and hedge fund managers profit, parents and students are disenfranchised and the better teachers go elsewhere because working conditions, salary and benefits are no longer competitive in CPS.