EduShyster: What Are the Differences Between Suburban Public Schools and Urban Charter Schools?Urban

dianeravitch posted: "Emily Kaplan has written a guest column for EduShyster. Kaplan taught in a no-excuses charter school, and she now teaches in a suburban public school. Here she describes the differences, much of which hasty do with power. The suburban parents "own" their " Respond to this post by replying above this line New post on Diane Ravitch's blog EduShyster: What Are the Differences Between Suburban Public Schools and Urban Charter Schools?Urban by dianeravitch Emily Kaplan has written a guest column for EduShyster. Kaplan taught in a no-excuses charter school, and she now teaches in a suburban public school. Here she describes the differences, much of which hasty do with power. The suburban parents "own" their public school; the urban charter parents can stay in the school only if their child obeys directions and follows the rules. Kaplan writes: "Politically and financially, affluent suburban parents own their children's schools. Parents of students at urban charters, however, better not push their luck. (They "won the lottery," after all.) Suburban parents can question the system all they like; ultimately, they are the system. Charter parents are certainly not— and by questioning it, they have everything to lose. (The racial undertones of this environment—black parents should be grateful for the education these white educators so generously provide— are significant.) Unlike suburban students who attend district schools, students at urban charter schools can be expelled or pushed out— and no parent wants to be forced back to the district which drove them to enter the charter lottery in the first place. "Urban charters wield this power to ensure compliance from students and parents alike. The strict discipline for which charters are infamous is applied to parents as well as their children. Unlike at suburban schools—where parents are welcomed to join the PTA, to volunteer, to lead projects, and to meet with an administration that must earn their support—parental involvement at many urban charters is as unidirectional as it is punitive. If a student accumulates enough behavioral infractions, for instance, he or she must serve an in-school suspension until the parent is able—on one day's notice—to take time off of work in the middle of the school day to observe the child in class for an hour and a half. Teachers and administrators threaten students who break the rigid rules of the school with parental involvement: "If your behavior doesn't get better," they tell these five- and six- and seven-year-olds, many of whom come from families struggling to make ends meet, "your dad will have to keep missing work to come here. You don't want him to be fired, do you?" Parents who do not comply are told that the school may not be for them. "Take it or leave it, be grateful, kowtow: we know what's best for your child. "Ultimately, this serves no one." Thanks for flying with WordPress.com