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Opinion: The future of our children is in legislative hands

By Mark Chapman

Last week, the State Board of Education took a stand for Connecticut’s children and approved four new public charter schools. As a result of that historic decision, thousands of children will have access to the high-quality education they deserve. The new schools will be located in Bridgeport, Stamford and New Haven. Each school will be led by educators, based on instructional models with proven track records.

These are schools from which close to 100 percent of students graduate, schools where no child is denied the chance for a great education simply because they can’t afford one.

That is real and long overdue progress. Now, we must protect this progress and continue to take steps to ensure that all kids get the education they need to achieve their goals.

Two of these schools—New Haven’s Booker T. Washington Academy and Bridgeport’s Great Oaks School – are scheduled to open this fall. The funding for these two schools is included in the state’s biennial budget approved by legislators last year. State leaders must preserve that funding, so that the hundreds of students hoping to attend Booker T. Washington Academy and Great Oaks School have the opportunity they have been waiting for.

Jennifer Alexander is the CEO of ConnCAN (Connecticut Coalition for Achievement Now).

See the complete story at CT News Junkie.

 

 

Comments

9 responses to “Opinion: The future of our children is in legislative hands”

  1. Tom Keegan

    http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Democracy-loses-in-charter-school-fight-5396519.

    Interesting Letter to the Editor in today’s Stamford Advocate.

  2. Tom Keegan

    http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/news/article/Democracy-loses-in-charter-school-fight-5396519.php

    Sorry this is the link

  3. John Hamlin

    The only people opposed to charter schools are those who are rabid supporters of the toxic teachers unions, which have opposed teacher accountability and evaluations and which have institutionalized mediocrity in our schools. If one supports the right of every student to get a decent education, one supports charter schools.

  4. Mary Pugh

    Charter schools work just fine for the children that attend them.

    The issue is that ALL schools should have the same standards and funding.

    Perhaps originally the idea was to have a charter school to test some educational strategies- then roll those efforts out to all public schools… Is this happening? Are we learning and sharing and raising the level of education everywhere… or are we just adding to the tiny population that gets a better education?

  5. Mary Pugh

    p.s. I am not associated with any unions…nor have I even discussed this with a public teacher.

    I just wish we would all work together to raise the standards at all schools…. make all public education free, have online courses for everything so people can learn and study at their own pace…and have proctors to test the students so they can move up at their own pace… (in particular adults who missed the boat on education but not realize it is time to get on board.)

  6. Piberman

    Sadly lengthening the “school day” and “school year” to norms of countries with high performing schools seems beyond the abilities of our Democrat controlled legislature beholden to public school unions. That is the desperately needed CT education reform.

  7. EveT

    @JohnHamlin, there are plenty of people with reservations about charter schools who are in no way associated with a teachers union or with teachers personally or professionally. As Mary Pugh says, the issue is that *all* of our schools should provide a quality education. Look at the requirements for application and attendance at, for example, Side by Side Charter School, and you will see that only the more savvy, committed parents have the ability to get their kids into the school and keep them from being kicked out for infractions like wearing incomplete/improper uniform.

  8. Marjorie M

    I have seen Charter Schools in action. Parents are much more active in the enrollment of their children and in the activities in the Charter Schools. Parental support makes a difference in the attitudes of the students and in the outcomes of their children’s education.

  9. Mary C Pugh

    Yes, parental involvement was proven many years ago to be a huge factor in children’s success in school. Hard to say what it the chicken and what is the egg…. BUT perhaps some of the money that is being diverted to private schools….should be spent on gaining parental involvement. Parent classes in the evenings, online classes, more than just PTO meetings.

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