A student who leaves Philly schools for charters takes $10,170, leaving $5,879 with the district.

[madfloridian]

This is an article by two members of Philadelphia Charter Schools for Excellence, in fact they are leaders of the group.

This is truly a whopper of an op ed. It in effect says that it does not harm public schools if a student takes 2/3 of the pupil funding with them....though it only leaves about a third for the public school to function.

You can not have highly functioning public schools if you strip them of resources.

I can not believe these charter supporters thought this would be convincing.

Expand charters to help those in closing schools

They are advocating more charter schools as the schools in Philly are being closed. Neighborhood schools. Parents, students, teachers have been protesting these closings. No one is listening. I believe 23 last I heard.

In light of the concerns raised by the announcement of school closings in the city, our colleagues at Philadelphia Charters for Excellence (PCE) want School District officials and families to know that we are here, standing by to welcome more students into our schools.

The closings are inevitable for a district that must manage within the framework of a harsh fiscal reality. Given this scenario, the good news is that not only are charters educating children at a fraction of the cost, but they in turn are able to channel more money to children remaining at district schools.

Wait! What did they just say? They think by taking $10,170 from a school and only leaving them with $5,879 that they are "channeling" more money to the children remaining at the public schools? That's not very good math.

Philadelphia taxpayers pay substantially less money per student to educate a child in a charter school than in one of our traditional public schools. According to the district's annual financial report for 2011, we conservatively estimate that, on average, the district spent $16,049 per student. Each student who left to attend a charter school took only $10,170, leaving $5,879 with the district.

If it costs less to educate in a charter school, then you take 1/3 and leave the public school 2/3. That would work.

The spin is amazing.

Still, many people blame charters for the school closings. Critics say that charters are "draining resources" from district schools or that the money is going to for-profit companies. They want a moratorium on charter growth. What some do not realize is that charters are public schools voluntarily chosen by parents for their children, and almost all in Philadelphia are run by nonprofit entities focused on educating urban youths.

Indeed we do blame opening more charters for the school closings. That is the intent of both parties right now....more and more and more charter schools. That's why they need all the testing so they can call the public schools failures, close them, and make more charters.

There are large crowds protesting the Philly school closures.

I guess the reformers are now having to spin more to counteract the negative angry feelings from the public.

If money continues to be taken away from public schools, they will have to adjust their situation and goals to fewer students. That's a real Catch22.

If they become under-utilized, some cities will close them. Thus the neighborhood schools which often serve as community centers will close because they don't have enough students or resources.

Commission says CPS should close or consolidate under-utilized schools

While CPS says under-utilization is the only factor it is considered for school closings, the commission says CPS must look beyond the numbers.

"You have to look at how the school is utilized in community. Utilization is important, but not the sole criteria," said Clark.

The commission also believes all school actions should be on the table, including turnarounds. That is when the entire staff of a poor performing school is replaced.

That's a pattern. Failing and under-utilized schools will be closed as more charter schools are opened.

There's a solution. Fund public schools. Stop sending public money to private companies. Keep America's public education strong.

[JVS]

1. I dislike charter schools, but this is really not a good frame.

And the reason it isn't a good frame is that in no other business does losing a customer to a competitor still provide you with over 35% of the revenue that customer would have provided. Most businesses would kill to have such a situation. Imagine being a dentist and having customers cancel but still getting 35% of the bill. The school is essentially getting $5,879 for doing nothing.

There is the issue of fixed cost vs. marginal costs though. If students leave for charter schools, but the school districts maintain the same number of classrooms, teachers, schools. etc. then the budget is stressed more than if the students were to stay. It is possible for the school to improve it's books in this situation, but only if it is able to cut the budget by the same percentage as the % of students attending charter schools. Technically the most lucrative action for the school district is to send all the kids to charter schools, fire everyone, and collect their 35%.

[madfloridian]

2. If they cut the budget, accommodate less students, they will be closed for not being full enough.

If you think of public education as a business and children as products, then what you say makes sense.

The public education system in this country is under attack from the corporate world. They manage to make it all sound so practical. But education is really not a business and children are not products.

[duffyduff]

5. Public education isn't a business, so your argument doesn't hold water.

That is the fatal flaw in the support of charters, by the way, or any other privatization of the public good.

[madfloridian]

3. Schools are being closed in neighborhoods that need them as center of community.

http://www.theroot.com/buzz/philly-schools-closed-poor-and-minority-neighborhoods

"In Philadelphia, the school board announced a decision to close 23 schools this week, and poor, minority neighborhoods will feel the pain, reports the New York Times.

Around the country, districts including Chicago, Newark and Washington have been echoing that rationale, with officials citing budget gaps as they draw up lists of schools to close at the end of the school year. District officials also say they need to close underperforming schools so that students can move to schools where they have a better chance of succeeding.

But critics say that while the spreadsheets or test scores might say one thing, even lower-performing, underused schools can serve as refuges in communities that have little else.

"The school is one of the foundations of the community," said Rosemarie Hatcher, president of the Philadelphia Home and School Council, which represents local home and school associations. "It’s like a village. The schools know our kids and they look out for our kids."

[madfloridian]

4. When Philly schools close, empty buildings most likely go to charter schools.

It has been so easy to move quickly ahead on the dismantling of public education in America. The fear of criticism toward our party has pretty much stifled any outrage or questioning.

Everything is excused in some way. Not ok to give 2/3 of student funding to charters and leave only 1/3 with the public school.

It is not okay to close a public school and let the billionaire reformers snatch up the buildings and turn it into a charter school.

http://articles.philly.com/2013-02-12/news/37041309_1_vacant-schools-philadelphia-schools-catholic-schools

"If plans move forward to shut one in six Philadelphia schools, what happens to the discarded buildings?

A newly-released examination of other big-city school districts' closures by the Pew Charitable Trust shows that charter schools are likely to snap up some of the buildings. Pew found that more than 40 percent of cities' closed buildings were re-used by charters.

Housing is another common reuse but, researchers point out in a report issued Monday, repurposing schools as commercial sites can draw the ire of a community that feels a sense of ownership in the building.

In big cities, Pew warns, districts often fetch less money for the properties than they were expecting. Old schools, some of which have inflexible layouts and are in tough neighborhoods, can languish on the real estate market for years."