Charter approved for Arbor Preparatory High School as construction crews get to work
Project manager Gary DeGraaf, right, describes the layout of the new Arbor Preparatory High School to board president Miriam Snyder, center, and PrepNet executive principal Dave Angerer, left, at the construction site Thursday. Construction is scheduled to be finished in time for the start of the school year in September.
Kyle Feldscher | AnnArbor.com
Applications are still being accepted for the school, which has filled approximately three-fourths of the initial class, and is scheduled to open in September. David Angerer, the executive principal of PrepNet, the company that will operate the school, said forums held last week to give the community information about the school were all well attended and he’s looking forward to opening the school in the fall.
“We’re really excited about taking those small, high-performing K-8 schools that we have now and take them to the next level,” Angerer said.
Arbor Prep will be on the same site as East Arbor Academy, a new K-8 charter school operated by National Heritage Academies, at the corner of Merritt and Hitchingham roads.
National Heritage Academies, a private company, operates 40 charter schools in Michigan and 67 schools nationwide. PrepNet is affiliated with National Heritage Academies and operates two Grand Rapids high schools.
School officials received word that the schools charter had been approved by Bay Mills Community College. The charter will now go to the state to be approved.
Construction on the site began in early April and is progressing on schedule, according to Gary DeGraaf, project manager of Lamar Construction Company.
He said both of the building pads, or the area stabilized for the building’s foundation, have been completed and staked for footing, which is one of the first steps in laying the foundation of a building.
The construction site Thursday.
Kyle Feldscher | AnnArbor.com
He said crews are beginning to work with the foundation for one of the schools and will begin laying pipes for plumbing on the other next week.
“Even with all Mother Nature can throw at us, we’ve been able to progress to that point,” DeGraaf said. “But, we’ve got a challenge in front of us, in terms of the weather and these projections, but … together we have a commitment to allow these schools to be ready for these students in the fall.”
Sitting on the site are 12 full semi-truck loads of steel and roofing for the north and south wings of the school, along with the gymnasium, which are waiting to be erected in the coming weeks. On Thursday, crews in heavy machinery worked to spread soil and rocks in order to provide a solid road to carry materials into the site.
Arbor Prep will have a full compliment of after-school programs, including sports programs, music programs and arts programs, Angerer said. He said one of the school’s aims would be to teach the whole individual instead of just teaching academics.
Miriam Snyder, president of the Arbor Prep school board, said the fact that the first class of students is already three-quarters full is a strong statement of interest from the community.
She said the goal of the school, once finished, would be to provide an international-quality education for Arbor Prep students and allow them to compete for jobs and other opportunities with students from around the world.
“We have a commitment to really compete, because that’s the reality — we can’t put mediocrity out there and say OK now they are ready to go into the work force, because they are not,” she said. “And I know very well the commitment that exists here to the philosophy of education.”
Kyle Feldscher covers K-12 education for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@annarbor.com or you can follow him on Twitter.
Comments
Barry
Sun, May 8, 2011 : 1:37 a.m.
There's a lot of money to be made here. Hedge fund managers and millionaire investors must be drooling with excitement.
Mark Wilson
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 7:30 p.m.
The FAQ about the commenting system says this: What are Most Popular Comments? One of the new features of our new commenting system is "Most Popular Comments." On every story that has 12 or more comments, three of the most popular comments voted on by AnnArbor.com readers will be featured at the top, above the full thread of comments. We added this as a way to highlight good conversation. We trust our commenting community will vote up comments that are insightful and further the conversation. It looks like somebody doesn't really trust our commenting community, at least on the topic of charter schools.
Mark Wilson
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 7:23 p.m.
I don't understand how the "Most Popular Comments" are selected. There are three associated with this article, with 14, 13, and 11 votes. At the same time there are a dozen comments with more than 14 votes, two of them have 151 and 160 votes.
Will Warner
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 8:07 p.m.
Mark, the Most Popular Comments feature sometimes glitches. Sometimes it even includes a comment that was deleted. I just refreshed and the top three have more than 100 votes. I have also found that refreshing won't always fix this.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 7:44 p.m.
@Mark: My guess is that the A2.com people have marked those with 151 and 160 to be ignored. Some commentators have discovered that they can drive up the score of the comments they like by deleting their cookies and voting again--and repeating the process until they get tired of it. And this is not to accuse those with high vote totals of doing it--has happened to several of my posts and I have never done it--but clearly that is what happens in these cases. Good Night and Good Luck
Mark Wilson
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 7:18 p.m.
Don Bourdeaux says it much better than I could: <a href="http://cafehayek.com/2011/04/grocery-school.html" rel='nofollow'>http://cafehayek.com/2011/04/grocery-school.html</a> "Suppose that we were supplied with groceries in same way that we are supplied with K-12 education." "Residents of each county would pay taxes on their properties. A huge chunk of these tax receipts would then be spent by government officials on building and operating supermarkets. County residents, depending upon their specific residential addresses, would be assigned to a particular supermarket. Each family could then get its weekly allotment of groceries for "free." (Department of Supermarket officials would no doubt be charged with the responsibility for determining the amounts and kinds of groceries that families of different types and sizes are entitled to receive.)" "Except in rare circumstances, no family would be allowed to patronize a "public" supermarket outside of its district." "When the quality of supermarkets is recognized by nearly everyone to be dismal, the resulting calls for 'supermarket choice' would be rejected by a coalition of greedy government-supermarket workers and ideologically benighted collectivists as attempts to cheat supermarket customers out of good supermarket service – indeed, as attempts to deny ordinary families the food that they need for their very survival. Such 'choice,' it would be alleged, will drain precious resources from the public supermarkets whose (admittedly) poor performance testifies to the fact that these supermarkets are underfunded."
Dirtgrain
Mon, May 9, 2011 : 11:02 p.m.
AMOC, would have been against desegregation measures that the Ann Arbor Public Schools have taken over the years? Are we a better country, and will we be more competitive if education is segregated by socio-economic status?
Dirtgrain
Mon, May 9, 2011 : 10:59 p.m.
Oops--because teaching is like selling consumables--terrible analogy. And I swear my brain isn't dirty.
Mark Wilson
Sun, May 8, 2011 : 11:32 p.m.
@Dirtbrain - The analogy is more like: supermarkets are to schools as groceries are to education (or teaching). Students are the consumers and it's education that is sold and consumed.
AMOC
Sun, May 8, 2011 : 1:28 p.m.
Dirtgrain - Kids aren't consumable, but their years in school are consumed at an astonishingly rapid rate, given the lack of urgency among public schools whenever there is a learning problem. Or an administration problem. Or a personality clash problem. As a parent, I'm VERY glad there are options to move my kids to a different school when I encounter an incompetent or uncaring teacher or principal, without having to spend $15-25,000 per kid per year out of my pocket. Charter schools provide that option, and just possibly, the loss of revenue from students who are withdrawn might encourage the public school systems to improve their operation.
Dirtgrain
Sun, May 8, 2011 : 12:02 p.m.
Because kids are consumables . . . terrible analogy.
Will Warner
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 11:18 a.m.
Society is obligated to educate its children, so there will be public funding of education. But does that mean there must be "public schools?" If we still believe that children get a better education in private schools, why not give every child a private-school education? It could still be publicly funded. Once a year, hand every child's parents a voucher for the amount that would now go to the child's default public school, and let them give it to any accredited private school for a year's worth of education. We'd have an Emerson school on every corner. Most likely, these schools would be smaller and less bureaucratic, and the parents would feel more directly a sense of personal investment in what was happening. Still, if you don't trust the parents to keep the schools honest -- fiscally and intellectually --then I suppose we can have a small state agency to keep tabs on them. My kids got an outstanding education in the Saline Public Schools, but maybe public school as we have known it is an idea whose time has passed.
dotdash
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:24 p.m.
Sounds good, but how can the govt pay for every kid to go to a private school ($20K-$40K/hr)? So what happens? The govt gives a $10K voucher. Parents who can pay another $10K-$20K do so and their kids go to Emerson (underwritten now by taxpayers), and those who can't end up at the school that is willing to provide the service for $10K. This should remind you of Medicaid, where you can't get a decent doctor to see your for what the government (taxpayers) are willing to provide.
Andrew Jason Clock
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 5:17 a.m.
Charter Schools are an easier way to "fix" education than actually fixing education. Pop one of those puppies up and boom, you've got an alternative to under-performing schools. Unfortunately, while many want to make the argument that allowing private schools to use public funds creates competition and thus force schools improve to survive, this is the entirely wrong side of the common sense or economic motives. Think of it like the old GM. By building more charters, we are creating too much education capacity. We don't have enough students to fill all of these schools, and we don't have enough money to either run all of these schools. As a result, while we offer a dazzling array of school choices, none of them are of particularly good quality. Instead, we need to return to a sensible number of schools, funded, equipped and staffed at optimal levels to ensure that all of our education (our product) is accessible and acceptable to all students, in all areas, in all incomes. And yes, sometimes, a monopoly is the way to go. Utilities come to mind. Schools are another. And if it's funded by taxes, damn right I want it run by the government, so I can vote the bums out if they can't do their jobs.
Marshall Applewhite
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:21 a.m.
Public Schools: It's time to either keep up, or be left behind. Time to eliminate the dead wood and retain the great ones. You no longer have a monopoly on education, and should be very worried about this. Think about this the next time you pull out that 15 yr old lesson plan.
Jake C
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 4:04 a.m.
Yes, because Private schools have never existed before in the history of the world, ever.
aataxpayer
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 9:44 p.m.
Let's face it - parental apathy is a big factor in outcomes. There are some people that want to avoid traditional schools to have a more homogeneous "private-school-like" environment that is paid for by taxpayers. Thank goodness for those engaged parents that send their to traditional public schools by choice - but of course they can only do this if the traditional school is a reasonable choice. Message to traditional schools - keep ahead of this or you'll keep losing over 9K per student that leaves.
Dlr727
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 9:06 p.m.
An interesting, but little known fact is that charter schools are not obligated to offer all of the special education services that a public school is required to offer. In fact, if they have a student who has special needs, the local public school is required to provide the service because charter schools often do not have a qualified teacher for that service. They are also not obligated to take on students who have documented behavior issues or infractions. Public schools are obligated. Take a look at the school systems in England. That is where we are headed in this country. The haves will go to "good" charter schools. They will continue to take the brightest and the best and leave the rest behind. The have nots will go to the "bad" public schools that are mandated to provide certain services, but will be punished by having funds taken away if they don't perform well on standardized tests.
Jim
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 6:16 p.m.
There will always be two different points of view for Public education. First point is traditional Public Education…It was good 10, 20, 30 years ago it is good enough now. Second point of view is Public Charter Education (also a Public Education) …we need to find a better way to teach and chart each student's individual progress. Use what works, get rid of what doesn't. The big difference in the Charter School education is the parents are requested to be involved, from day one, in their child's education. Everyone's who puts down any charter schools uses quotes from out of the local area or state to prove there point. Using data collected locally, prove that NHA Charter Schools under perform Public Schools. By using the State of Michigan own data almost all of the NHA managed schools outperform the local public schools. Before someone puts down a local Charter School look up its results, you will be surprised at what you find.
aamom
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 8:10 p.m.
I am not completely against the charter idea but where do the kids who who don't have involved parents fit in to the Public Charter Education point of view? And what happens if the parent signs the contract and ends up being uninvolved? Do they kick them back to public school? It hardly feels fair to compare the two types of schools if that is the case. Secondly, I think you use too broad a brush to say that traditional education doesn't use what works and get rid of what doesn't. I see new things each year at my son's school. Some good, some not so but certainly see people trying new things all the time.
Dirtgrain
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 6:06 p.m.
Charter schools: because I don't want my kids going to school with those kids.
Dirtgrain
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 10:17 p.m.
Funny, but what difference does that make? It's still because I don't want my kids going to school with those kids, and those kids will tend to stay where they are. That's the reality. The charter school movement is much about segregation. Funny, but there are other things to consider like transportation. From the East Arbor Charter Academy FAQ: "Transportation to East Arbor is the responsibility of the student's parents." Do you think that might be a deterrent for poor families? Give it some thought, and be sure to let me know what is funny about it.
Greggy_D
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 6:15 p.m.
Funny....."those kids" could also go to a Charter School. Amazing how that works.
BenWoodruff
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:38 p.m.
Here's my .02. If you want it, fine. If I were on any of the local school boards, my rule would be, If you choose the charter school, Good Luck, we hope it works out for you. However, if you change your mind after official count day, or if the charter school asks you to take little Johnny out because his behavior doesn't fit there (and it happens), don't look to us to enroll your child until after the next count day. Why should we educate your kid, when the education dollars stay at the charter? I'd love the annarbor.com or Freep to take a look at records and find out how many kids enroll in charters, make count day, and then return to public schools. Also, as you teacher bashers contend that charters have better education. Let's see, they have committed parents who choose their kids to go there, transport them and stay involved...how might that be different from public schools? Let any school have the kids who's parents are involved in their education, make sure they are fed, and make sure their homework is done, and I'll guarentee results as well!
Marshall Applewhite
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:18 a.m.
"Why should we educate your kid, when the education dollars stay at the charter?" The "Us vs. Them" tone of this post really is despicable. The overall goal is to give our children the best education possible, and this is obviously not the goals of many union members posting on this site. If you're going to like your union more than educating kids, at least try to be less obvious about it.
Terri
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:52 p.m.
I will never understand the stance that more choices for families won't push all schools to step up.
Terri
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:51 p.m.
Public schools had me as a parent--an involved parent whose kid was fed and had completed homework with him. It didn't make a bit of difference, they didn't push him, didn't have the resources to give him the education that is his by rights. Our neighborhood school lost him, as well as his younger sister, and a couple of involved parents, all in one fell swoop. They're at a charter.
Paul
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:02 p.m.
I love it when people say you can't have merit based pay, because standardized tests don't show how much a student has learned. However, when they quote sources that show charter schools don't outperform public, their sources are those very same testing systems they've bashed all along.
SillyTree
Mon, May 9, 2011 : 8:38 p.m.
I don't know. Paul made a good point about the tests, but northside answered with a valid point about sample size. Marshall only affirmed agreement with Paul and made no logical argument to northside. As of now, I give this round to northside, but I give Paul credit for using logic. Now, if Paul has a reply to northside that is something other than just a negation of northside's point, maybe we can get some facts.
northside
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 4:14 p.m.
Or to put it another way: I love it when people say you need more charter schools because standardized test scores show that public schools aren't succeeding. However, they ignore the research that shows traditional public schools, the system they've bashed all along, score higher than charters.
Marshall Applewhite
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:15 a.m.
It's actually very contradictory. You're just grasping at straws.
northside
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 8:31 p.m.
There's no contradiction. What we're saying is that even on the standardized test-based terms of the school 'reform' movement charter schools don't fair better. Even the charter-loving film "Waiting for Superman" acknowledged that charters don't do better, citing the comprehensive national Stanford study's findings that only 17% of charters outperform public schools. But the stat was only given a passing mention; inexcusable because it contradicted the rest of the film. Plus, there's an issue of sample size. It is more fair to evaluate entire schools over extended periods because there's usually a large sample size, thousands of students. In evaluating a K-12 teacher you're just talking about 25 (or so) students per year and that group may change quite a bit from year-to-year. Scores in a teacher's class go could up or down and that may or may not have much to do with the teacher.
Gene Alloway
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 4:44 p.m.
As a bookseller and former librarian all I can say is this: Public education, in this country and others, has lifted far more people to literacy and better lives than any private enterprise in history. From public schools to the GI Bill, I think we have had a great deal of success. I am sure a good number of public schools across the country could be improved, but keep in mind no school operates in a vacuum, and many issues that public schools face cannot be solved by them and their boards alone. If charter schools can show an unqualified improvement in education over public schools, then good on them. But they haven't done that yet, and they have a long way to go. The jury is still very much out.
Paul
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:04 p.m.
Please stop living in the past. That has been part of the problem. Thats why, we still teach to manufacturing jobs, and have summers off. Two of the biggest problems
northside
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 4:21 p.m.
A major national study by Stanford found that only 17% of charters outperform traditional public schools: <a href="http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf</a> I'll give charter schools credit for one thing: serious PR skills. They've developed a reputation for excellence without that having the slightest basis in reality.
dotdash
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 3:50 p.m.
There is fear about charter schools, but I don't believe that it is the sort of venal, self-interested fear that is implied here. I (and maybe others) believe that the charter schools (and voucher systems) drain money from the public school system without offering anything better (see research cited above) but leaving the worst-performing kids and schools behind. The fear is that public schools will become ghettos where no one in their right mind would send their children if they had any other choices -- and in that case, you've dismantled a system that served as the ladder to success for generations of Americans.
Dante Marcos
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:01 p.m.
It's an amazing feat of naïveté to think that a future dominated by charter schools won't also be a future dictated by profit and the bottom line. The only good news in the Starbucksification of American elementary education is that charter school employees can organize unions.
Will Warner
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 1:22 a.m.
Dante, I have no problem dealing with people knowing that they expect to profit from the relationship. To profit from the relationship, they will have to make me happy, giving me the whip hand over them. It's the people who coo that their only interest is my benefit who make me keep an eye on my wallet.
Lamont Cranston
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:30 p.m.
The goal of education is not to create more union jobs. Iit is to educate kids. I think you have lost perspective of the real goal. It is the MEA that trying to extract as much money from taxpayers.
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:39 p.m.
Charter school teachers will HAVE to join unions otherwise they will never get raises nor benefits once the public schools have been obliterated. The unceasing push to be ever-more profitable will mean teachers will have more and more students per class, fewer and fewer support staff, lunch programs will be eliminated or worse- McDonalds-ized, and when a teacher gets to the point where they think they deserve a raise, they will be replaced by another entry-level body.
jns131
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:44 p.m.
What I don't get is why they are building another charter hi school when the IB in Ypsilanti is not even full yet. I was told they did not get a huge response like they thought they would get. Another charter hi school I agree would make MEA cringe, but yet it also sticks it to the union big wigs who want to keep gouging for more money the public system no longer has. Look what happened to Detroit and now they are gong half charter and half public. I hate to say it, but MEA needs to rewire how they do things. Great to hear another charter hi school, hope they can fill the seats.
jcj
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:13 p.m.
What are they building a barn? "together we have a commitment to allow these schools to be ready for these students in the fall." They might have a partial building ready in Sept but I doubt they will be able to get a C.O. to allow students to attend by the scheduled opening. I don't think they are being realistic. Go ahead and plan a Sept vacation.
average joe
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 3:22 a.m.
I have seen them build schools like south arbor & others and they have it down pretty good, although the buildings are all the alike.
jcj
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 8:16 p.m.
I will be surprised. Have you witnessed "These people" in action? I have not so I am not doubting their capability just know from 30+ years in the trades how hard it is to meet deadlines. Maybe this is more bare bones than most schools inside.
BenWoodruff
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:41 p.m.
Actually, I believe that the C of O comes from the state, not the Township. So we will see what standards apply by September.
average joe
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 4:49 p.m.
You will be surprised- It will be done in time. These people know what they are doing.
Arboriginal
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:12 p.m.
So you are launching a school? Thanks for all the details!
ypsilanti
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:09 p.m.
The naive pro-charter views here are troubling. Research shows that charters do not get better results, yet they siphon resources from nearby public schools and weaken them. Just look at the stats, and you will see that any claimed bump in performance is artificial, because they are simply removing underperforming kids from elibibility, which makes them appear to get better results. They don't actually get better results. One of the biggest inequities about charter schools is that they fail to serve many disadvantaged and disabled kids, and in many cases actively discourage such children and families from enrolling. In this way, they fail to provide an equal opportunity to all children. It's a shame that this charter school is opening, because it isn't going to achieve any better results than any other local school, yet it will weaken the local public schools by siphoning children away, and with the children, much needed funding.
Jennifer
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 10:20 p.m.
Charter schools are public schools
Macabre Sunset
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 6:21 p.m.
The study the government did showed the opposite: that more disadvantaged students were in charter schools than in the public schools. Controlling for socio-economic status, test scores were similar. I'm sorry you don't want real choices for parents. This is one case where the free market could produce better outcomes. If all education were handled through private schools, tracking could be implemented on a wide scale.
shadow wilson
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:20 p.m.
<a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/educator-joseph-pollack-dies-emu-administrator-former-yps-superintendent-former-pioneer-principal/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/educator-joseph-pollack-dies-emu-administrator-former-yps-superintendent-former-pioneer-principal/</a> This was the most honest person I knew regarding all public education including charters.If Joe was willing to run a charter program then I know it was on the level. Joe was as liberal an pro public education as any one could ever be.
braggslaw
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:59 p.m.
Some charters will be better than public schools.... some public schools will be better than charters.. Isn't that the point? People should be able to choose, especially in urban areas where public schools have failed. Unless you want to be part of the socialliaberpubliacommuniclan party <a href="http://www.edsource.org/assets/files/CharterSchoolPR_08.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://www.edsource.org/assets/files/CharterSchoolPR_08.pdf</a> <a href="http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/05/are_charter_schools_better_tha.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.mlive.com/news/flint/index.ssf/2009/05/are_charter_schools_better_tha.html</a>
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:02 p.m.
The takeaway from the M-Live link: "There's not much difference between the test scores of most charter schools compared to traditional public schools in Genesee County, according to a Flint Journal review of the average percentages of students who met or exceeded standards on the 2008 Michigan Educational Assessment Program (MEAP) test." Thanks, BL, for making my point for me! Good Night and Good Luck
David Cahill
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:54 p.m.
I can't tell from the article what the school is "Preparatory" for. Is it to prepare students for college? Or for going directly into the work force after high school? The statement about teaching the "whole individual" was not very enlightening.
CommonThought
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 10:59 p.m.
According to PrepNet Schools (they will be running Arbor Preparatory), "Our mission is to prepare each student for college success..." <a href="http://www.prepnetschools.com/" rel='nofollow'>http://www.prepnetschools.com/</a> <a href="http://www.prepnetschools.com/arbor/index.shtm" rel='nofollow'>http://www.prepnetschools.com/arbor/index.shtm</a>
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:51 p.m.
"When the charter schools are producing excellent results. . . " All evidence to the contrary notwithstanding: <a href="http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/riehl/article_40c956c0-3ee2-587a-b89b-630bdb95f18b.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.nctimes.com/news/opinion/columnists/riehl/article_40c956c0-3ee2-587a-b89b-630bdb95f18b.html</a> <a href="http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/118820339.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/118820339.html</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/education/14winerip.html?src=recg" rel='nofollow'>http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/14/education/14winerip.html?src=recg</a> (regarding the "success" of charter schools in Detroit. <a href="http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_689889.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/news/s_689889.html</a> The above reports focus on one school district, yet it is a national trend. The George W. Bush administration produced the following report regarding charter schools on the national level: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard//pdf/studies/2006460.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://nces.ed.gov/nationsreportcard//pdf/studies/2006460.pdf</a> The Cliff's Notes version of the above: controlling for race and for the socio-economic status of the student's family, charter schools perform worse than do public schools. So much for the TeapubliKan myth about charter schools. Good Night and Good Luck
concerned
Mon, May 9, 2011 : 6:04 p.m.
I enjoy your informed comments. Question, how many of these parents that send their kid to Heritage Foundation Schools, actually have any information on the policies of said organization?
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 1:26 p.m.
4) Going through all of those links this appears: The average graduation rate for DC was 41%. The graduation rate for those who entered the voucher lottery but did not get a voucher was 70%. The graduation rate for those who received the vouchers was 91%. Ms. Lindsay claims that the 21% difference between those who won and those who lost shows the failure of the public schools. Perhaps. One would have to conduct a serious study of that 21% to know that for a fact, and she has not done that. But what can be said for certain is that the higher graduation rates of both groups over the DC average is a great example of selection bias—those who wanted to leave were motivated to do well, and many (most?) who stayed likely were not. And this is what the studies I have linked above show happens without fail. The charters skim the best students from public schools and do no better (and oftentimes worse) with those students than the public schools had been doing. Good Night and Good Luck
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 1:26 p.m.
@Joe: 1) Where did I claim that ALL charters were failing? Gotta love TeapubliKan logic. If public schools in Detroit, Willow, run, and DC are failing, they all must be failing. If a single charter in DC succeeds, they all must be succeeding. 2) Did you actually read and think about the article you linked? Or did you simply take it at face value. It says: "It's true that the D.C. voucher program did not produce the type of test score gains that had been hoped for. . . " Note that there are no test scores noted here nor is there any comparison to D.C. test scores. Why not? Surely the National Review would have trumpeted that data had there been substantial improvement, right? 3) Clicking on the link under the 91% claim leads to some interesting discoveries. That link takes one to a blog written Lindsey Burke. In it she argues with a piece written by Media Matters which, in turn, had disputed a piece she had written for the Heritage Foundation. Clicking on the link she provides takes you to the Media Matters piece, and on that site you can click on a link that takes you to the original Heritage Foundation piece. Guess What?? The original piece is gone. Indeed, it is interesting that Ms. Burke did not have a reply to Media Matters on the Heritage Foundation website. Could it be that the Heritage foundation found her claims to be spurious? (continued)
Joe Hood
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 5:10 a.m.
@Ghost: How do you explain the success of Christo Rey schools--really bends up your socio-economic argument? How do you explain how in DC schools, 91% of charter school kids are being graduated, 70% of those who applied to charter school but didn't get in were graduated but only 54% of the rest were graduated? Here's a 91% number source: <a href="http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263360/white-house-announces-opposition-dc-vouchers-katrina-trinko" rel='nofollow'>http://www.nationalreview.com/corner/263360/white-house-announces-opposition-dc-vouchers-katrina-trinko</a>
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 5:28 p.m.
Average Joe: That is only a partial answer. How did it score when the test population's race and socio-economic status are accounted for? One must do a regression analysis of the test data before one can answer that question. simply citing the average test score is . . . well . . . simple. I can skim the top 10% from the AAPS and have a top performing school by test score. It doesn't mean that I'm doing better than the AAPS. Good Night and Good Luck
average joe
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 4:47 p.m.
Ghost- South Arbor, the closest charter in the National Heritage system to this new school, placed 7th in the state MEAP test last year of EVERY elementary school in the state of Michigan.
northside
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 4:23 p.m.
Ghost I haven't had time yet to read your links but in case this study wasn't included: <a href="http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf" rel='nofollow'>http://credo.stanford.edu/reports/National_Release.pdf</a> It's a major national study by Stanford that found only 17% of charters outperform traditional public schools.
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:33 p.m.
There is no way public institutions can survive the onslaught from extremely well-funded saboteurs. Republicans have been actively defunding the public schools since the Reagan administration (when US public schools were considered among the best in the world). No Child Left Behind is a perfect example of an UNFUNDED republican mandate from above which was nothing more than an attempt to weaken public schools. Just the most recent example.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:41 p.m.
Thanks, eyeheart. Three comments: First, the report you quote was prepared by the Bush administration. It was a huge backer of charter schools, so it is not shocking that, in its written findings, it was trying to explain away the report's statistical findings. Indeed (though I cannot find a link), I recall that the Bush administration very publicly repudiated this report the minute it hit the streets. Second, Diane Ravitch was the A/Sec Ed under Bush and was a HUGE proponent of charter schools. She has subsequently changed her tune based on studies such as those I have cited. See her book _The Death and Life of the Great American School System_. It is a damning indictment of the charter school movement. Third, I am not for choice, per se. I am for accountability. Sure, parents ought be able to send their children to any school they wish--mine attended parochial schools for several years when they were young. But I am opposed to tax dollars going to private schools (and especially to for-profit schools) that are not performing to standards of public schools which, according to these reports, is happening far too often. The mantra is that public schools are under-performing. Without getting into the degree to which that is an accurate assessment, IF one accepts that premise, the justification for tax dollars going to charters is that they do it better. Clearly, however, they do not. The justification therefore disappears, as should the public funding. And I am not a fan of the status quo--far from it. But our schools need RADICAL change, and no one is talking that kind of change--not the governor, not anyone. So, yes, I support the status quo. I see no viable alternative--based upon the above studies, certainly not charter schools. Good Night and Good Luck
EyeHeartA2
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:25 p.m.
I always appreaciate how you bring some research to the table. Sometimes you can draw different conclusions from the same data though: From the .gov report: "After adjusting for student characteristics, charter school mean scores in reading and mathematics were lower, on average, than those for public noncharter schools." "Second, the data are obtained from an observational study rather than a randomized experiment, so the estimated effects should not be interpreted in terms of causal relationships." ...I think you had some latin phrase for this once, I'll have to look it up. "Parents may have been attracted to charter schools because they felt that their children were not well-served by public schools, and these children may have lagged behind their classmates." I other words: 'We get stuck with the bad ones' - which I find ironic, since that is exactly what the public schools say. Regardless, if you believe your kids would be ill served going to a charter school, don't send them. Our kids all go to public schools. The AA district is generally pretty good. They could save a lot of money closing the reduntant High Schools though. Maybe now they will.
Edward R Murrow's Ghost
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:14 p.m.
And I find it amusing that TeapubliKans ignore facts to reach their pre-determined conclusions. Good Night and Good Luck
5c0++ H4d13y
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:58 p.m.
I find it amusing that democrats/progressive/liberals are against monopolies unless they are owned by the government, funded by the tax payers and employ union members. Then they're sacrosanct.
spj
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:41 p.m.
The thing is, studies show that charters don't produce better results than regular public schools. There are great charters and poor ones, just as there are great regular public schools and poor ones. The thing we can guarantee is that every kid who goes to a charter instead of their local public school pulls money out of the local school district. Also, the turnover rate of teachers at charters is pretty high because they don't pay anywhere near what the districts pay, so the really good teachers frequently leave to go to the districts.
AMOC
Sun, May 8, 2011 : 1:13 p.m.
Spj - The studies you quote do show that most charters educate their students about as well as the regular school districts in the same area. Some do better, a very few do worse, most are about the same. The thing about charter schools is that they perform this important work at a substantially lower cost than the majority of public school districts do. The other major value to having charter schools available as an option is that the parents are free to seek a school that is a good fit for their childs' personality and learning needs. Just TRY to do that in a public school system. Not allowed. Your kid has to conform to the attitude which prevails in the neighborhood school or be harassed by teachers, social workers , administrators and fellow students.
Marshall Applewhite
Sat, May 7, 2011 : 2:11 a.m.
If that money would have otherwise been funneled into unions to maintain the status quo, I'm happy to see it leaving the public school system.
InsideTheHall
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:26 p.m.
Is David Angerer the spouse of former State Rep. Kathy Angerer?
EyeHeartA2
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:24 p.m.
The biggest heartburn most of the status quo has with this is that they are afraid it will work, and then they will have egg on their face. If it doesn't, the school goes out of business, the kids go someplace else and the building turns into a Dunhams. Of course if it does work (and it seems like it very well might), then all the MEA arguements go out the window. The only player with a vested interest in failure is the MEA.
sambra
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 12:20 p.m.
If the Ann Arbor Public Schools are successful in forcing the balanced schedule on families currently feeding into Scarlett, charter/private schools are going to become an viable option. The opposition to charter schools come from people who believe the only people qualified to educate their children are MEA unionized teachers. Not all of us out here think that that is the most important qualification.
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:27 p.m.
Sorry but that's NOT where the opposition is coming from. It's coming from people who believe that not everything that is for public benefit should have profit extracted from it in order to be considered worthwhile.
bluemax79
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:53 a.m.
honest question's where does the money come from? are the teachers not in the union so the schools have more power to remove poor teachers? are they private schools that look to keep low income students out? what exactly is an "international education"?
Michael
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 9:21 p.m.
Most of your questions can be answered by reviewing wikipedia: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school" rel='nofollow'>http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charter_school</a>
Lamont Cranston
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:34 a.m.
I find it ironic that people say that they are for education. When the charter schools are producing excellent results, all "they" can do is bash the charter schools. It is clear that "those" who are pro education, are not really pro education. They are pro status quo. All charter schools are doing is providing a choice and competition. Competition produces better results for all involved. Right now, families are switching away from the traditional schools to charter schools. All the traditional schools have to do is produce better results. When they do, they will see that people will come back.
braggslaw
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:30 a.m.
If you do not want your kids in a Charter... don't send them. I trust parents more than teacher's unions or school administrators.
jns131
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 1:53 p.m.
Ours was in a charter until we had to put ours into a public so the child could feed into a hi school and make friends from that point. Once the charters are done at grade 8 they have to make all new friends in the hi school level which is pretty sad really. Now that the new hi school and IB are in play, I wonder how successful the public schools in Ypsilanti and Willow Run will be. Ann Arbor will always be top notch. Ours struggled with a public for a year until things mellowed out. But still, charters are more secluded then public middle and hi school because you pretty much stay with the same teacher or two for that year. We may consider a charter later on, but for now? Staying with our school choice hi school.
Lamont Cranston
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:26 a.m.
I applaude the choice that my kids have to get an excellent education!
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:17 a.m.
It's no coincidence that this story and this one: <a href="http://www.annarbor.com/news/house-republicans-approve-education-budget-with-deep-cuts-to-schools-colleges-and-universities/">http://www.annarbor.com/news/house-republicans-approve-education-budget-with-deep-cuts-to-schools-colleges-and-universities/</a> appear in the nooz on the same day. They are two sides of the same coin.
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 10:58 a.m.
"...an authorizer approved the school's charter Thursday," An "authorizer?" Who might that be? "the goal of the school, once finished, would be to provide an international-quality education for Arbor Prep students..." "An International-quality education." At least this lady is willing to admit to the reality that the privatization crowd and their strangulation schemes has succeeded in driving the quality of an "American" education down below most other western nations. Mission accomplished!
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 7:13 p.m.
Here are some performance stats: <a href="http://nces.ed.gov/pressrelease/reform/#Performance" rel='nofollow'>http://nces.ed.gov/pressrelease/reform/#Performance</a> (nice job, public school teachers!) So public schools are actually doing a good job. The perception that US public schools are terrible is false and is only being fostered by the forces of privatization (that's a whole new slew of links if you want them) and their factotums in the lapdog media. And while some privatization fans complain about Obama, he's actually on their team: <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/an-open-letter-to-arne-du_b_857872.html" rel='nofollow'>http://www.huffingtonpost.com/randy-turner/an-open-letter-to-arne-du_b_857872.html</a> Good ol' Arne Duncan. Don't get me started.
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 6:58 p.m.
"You stated in a subsequent post that "Republicans have been actively defunding the public schools since the Reagan administration (when US public schools were considered among the best in the world)." Would you please post any link you can come up with that proves that test scores were higher pre Ronald Reagan?" I did not say scores were higher and I don't know if they are. I was talking about perception of US public schools. Public school teachers are super heroes for continuing to educate our kids even whilst having to carry out unfunded federal mandates AND having their funding stripped year after year federally and locally. BUT... if you look at testing since 2000, you will see an erosion: <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading" rel='nofollow'>http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2010/dec/07/world-education-rankings-maths-science-reading</a> The fact that scores have maintained over time (I believe since the late 60's may have even gone up) is a testament to the very people being savaged by the right wing now. In 1982, "A Nation at Risk" was published challenging public school systems to raise standards even while the Reaganites were cooking up their defunding schemes. Public school teachers came through. Now look how they are being rewarded.
jcj
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:58 p.m.
timjbd You stated in a subsequent post that "Republicans have been actively defunding the public schools since the Reagan administration (when US public schools were considered among the best in the world)." Would you please post any link you can come up with that proves that test scores were higher pre Ronald Reagan? Or was this just anecdotal gibberish and we were only thought to have the best schools in the world?
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 2:40 p.m.
I'd still like to know who this "authorizer" is....
timjbd
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:39 a.m.
See how you feel once the pressure to extract more and more profit hits the tipping point. They will keep privatized (as opposed to traditional private schools which are not publicly funded) schools fully funded until the public schools are no longer viable then their will be no reason to NOT jack the profits. Once that begins, you'll see what this is about. These schools will institute their Walmart business plans and look out below.
Lamont Cranston
Fri, May 6, 2011 : 11:25 a.m.
You can't blame the quality of other schools on NHA. Families are choosing the charter schools for the quality of the education they produce.