The Parents Choice for Charter Schools

What are Charter Schools?

Charter schools started in the late 1980’s and have since become more well known.

According to charterschoolcenter.org  charter schools are, “independently managed, publicly funded schools operated under a charter or a contract between the school and the state or jurisdiction, allowing for significant autonomy and flexibility”.

Because of this autonomy and degrees of flexibility given to charter schools, they are granted significant authority over key matters within the school such as the curriculum, personnel, and budget. On top of the control within the school doors, charter schools are not part of states’ drawn up districts, opening up another topic when it comes to zoning limitations. Essentially with no limitations when it comes to district lines, no charter schools are off limits for parents and kids to attend.

Students attend these schools by the choice of parents. There aren’t any school district rules when it comes to charters.

An individual or a company has the ability to start a charter school. On top of the extensive application process, the applicant must include a mission description, goals as well as plans for implementation. Once established, charter schools are led by their own elected governing board, predominantly made up of parents and community leaders.

 

Why Parents choose Charter schools

Charter schools across Northeast Ohio are one of the parent’s first choice and are becoming an alternative education environment. There are several advantages and disadvantages that charter schools face more severely than other schools.

Greater Summit County Early Learning Center otherwise known as SCOPE Academy is one of the many Charter Schools in Akron Ohio that parents want their kids attending. The parent to Daniel de Jong, Jen de Jong, is a second grader at SCOPE.

The enrollment process can be a bit nerve-wracking because at SCOPE there is a wait list.

 

 

Even though Daniel started at SCOPE late as a preschooler, he progressed extremely well in his classes. SCOPE is a smaller school and is one of the reasons that Jen decided to enroll Daniel.

Although there are a lot of advantages to charter schools, there are some disadvantages as well. It is common for charter schools to not operate like a public school does. SCOPE doesn’t provide transportation or a cafeteria for their students.

“We have to provide transportation and pack a lunch every day for Daniel,” said Jen. Overall there are minor disadvantages than advantages because the positive outlook the school has for their students.

Charter schools in the area experience a lot of issues to maintain a sponsorship which could be one of the many reasons resulting in the closing down of the school. SCOPE experienced this dilemma this year, but worked hard and powered through it.

House Bill 2 is a recent bill that passed which can lead to Charter Schools facing challenges due to strict rules to receive a sponsorship.

“We switched to the Ohio Department of Education for our sponsor and it is a long process to get sponsorships in place,” said SCOPE parent and Vice President Board Member, Jill Pildner.

Not only is Pildner a member of the SCOPE board, her second grader is a student at the school.

“I didn’t even know about the school until I overheard people talking about it at work,” said Pildner. “I did some research on it and then enrolled my daughter.”

There are many positive and negative reasons why parents choose schools, but what it comes down to is the care for the students which is why SCOPE is so successful.

“I hope that people would judge a school based on its own merits; there are some phenomenal schools out there and some not so great ones. Parents should also look at the schools serving their community of students to the of their best of their ability,” said Pildner.

There are many reasons why parents chose this type of school and for some parents, the experience isn’t always the same.

Sherry Jones, mother of two daughters who attend: You Can Read- TCP World Academy in Cincinnati, Ohio, has mixed emotions when it comes to charter schools.

Coming from a suburban lifestyle and not being “inner city” children, Jones’ two daughters had a different experience.

There are quite a few issues charter schools face because some tend to run more like a private business instead of a school. In Jones’ case, this was a major reason why she is switching her daughters to a private school.

“Part of the reason we switched was because of the school. Charters schools they kind of function as a private business. This particular charter school they don’t have a campus, so the children walked between buildings and along a very busy street, a high traffic street. They basically would have to walk in between different satellite buildings that they housed in. So that became a huge concern, not wanting them walking with a group of other small children and limited adult supervision,” said Jones.

Not only was the school area in a ‘not so safe environment’, other factors affected the decision to move Niya and Laci to a different school.

“And secondly, at times in Ohio charter schools more inner city kids go and attend those schools so sometimes, it’s hard for them to control the children and control the environment because there still packed in a classroom with 30 plus kids. So there is a combination of things with the school that made a choice for us to move from charter schools with Niya,” said Jones.

Jones moved Niya to a private school this year and this will be the last year for Laci to attend   You Can Read- TCP World Academy, she will move to the same private school as Niya next school year.

There might be some good and some bad charter schools, but what it comes down to is, if the school is a right fit for the parent and most importantly the child.