Proposed charter schools include all-boys Latin prep

[Rachel R. Reynolds]

Can't read this any longer without tossing in my two cents.

Because they receive things like block grants, charter schools notoriously 
leave negotiations about salary, benefits, workday hours, contract perks, 
etc. to the individual Principals and their Teachers.  It is much better 
from a teacher's perspective to be working for a normal public 
(systematically state-funded) school at least for earnings and job 
security.  Meanwhile, those same charter Principals (and teachers) are run 
utterly ragged trying to substitute as individuals for the support of 
entire institutions in the regular system.  An individual simply can only 
be as good as a massive Superintendent's office for so long.  Fewer 
administrative assistants, fewer (if any) social workers, literacy 
specialists, speech pathologists, etc., even fewer janitors or school 
nurses, less money for facilities maintenance, and so forth.

I can't help but wonder if it'll eventually evolve into collapsing schools 
that won't be funded for revival.  I.E., it may all be part of a 
semi-conscious move to systematically underfund public services in our 
neo-neoliberal state.

At any rate, Latin has virtually nothing to do with it.

Rachel

At 05:27 AM 10/21/2005 -0500, you wrote:
>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