Proposed charter schools include all-boys Latin prep

[Felecia Briscoe]

Overall a study in Texas shows that charter schools do not do as well as non-charter schools:  Lower test scores and higher drop out rates, astronomical (79%) teacher turn over rates.
fb

________________________________

From: owner-lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu on behalf of Anthea Fraser Gupta
Sent: Fri 10/21/2005 2:10 AM
To: lgpolicy-list at ccat.sas.upenn.edu
Subject: RE: Proposed charter schools include all-boys Latin prep


I gather from Hal that the US charter schools are very much like a similar initiative in the UK, usually known as 'city colleges' (usually for 11-18 year olds). These have private sponshorship, but are state (i.e. government-run =US public) schools and are free. Controversially, many of them have been sponsored by a Christian businessman who has introduced the teaching of creationism. One of the earliest was sponsored by BAT (I don't think they promoted smoking). They are usually located in poor areas, and often replace schools with low results. They are supposed to admit a cross section of students and generally offer stricter discipline, smaller classes, and often a specialist focus. The idea about Latin doesn't seem to have reached the UK (the languages promoted are usually French and Spanish, and many of them promote technology, business studies, or sport).
 
HOWEVER, there is considerable parental selection of these schools, and they also expel ('exclude' in the UK) more students than other schools in the same city, and for more trivial reasons. This means that the social composition of the city colleges is not the same as the social composition of the area in which they are located. They do not seem to benefit the most disadvantaged children in the place in which they are located. I gather the charter schools have similar issues. This is something that we would need to look at in Philadelphia to see whether they do serve the poorest people in the area.
 
This is the elitism problem. I am sure we all want excellence in education. But the danger of increasing selection in state schools is that the excellence will be delivered to those whose parents have the drive and interest to get it for their children. This does not break patterns of deprivation being passed down the generations.
 
I don't have a solution of course! But LATIN???  and, yes, BOYS??? This is a return to the nineteenth century. And Latin as an immunisation or something???? Languages should be learnt for themselves, not for something else. The best languages to learn are the ones you have most chance of using, surely. What other languages do they study? Spanish? Arabic? 
 
[I'm not against Latin. I went to a selective school myself (not something I think is right now) where we all did French, then the next year the top half of the school could do another language (I did German) and then after another year we could take another (I did Latin then). I also did New Testament Greek later at lunchtime.... I wouldn't promote this for everyone (and I failed chemistry, which I regret now). And one of my best friends teaches Latin and Greek. ]
 
 Bu the idea that Latin (or ASL, or any single language or subject) is THE solution? No.
 
Anthea