charter schools

When will Schenectady replace the charter school that closed down so we parents can have more options for our kids. Maybe we could consolidate districts with Albany and have charter schools available throughout the region.

tjd wrote:

When will Schenectady replace the charter school that closed down so we parents can have more options for our kids. Maybe we could consolidate districts with Albany and have charter schools available throughout the region.

A: Charter schools are not sponsored by a school district or a city. They are generally either started by a group of people or an organization who go through a process to be initiated and approved. There are a number of students from the Schenectady area that attend charter schools in Albany this year.

I thought this was interesting and did not even realize it was possible for a Schenectady student to attend a charter school outside of the district. Who pays for the cost of this and could getting those students to consider the schools available in the district be a way to save some money? Is there an outreach effort to connect with parents of charter school students?

Sandra wrote:

I thought this was interesting and did not even realize it was possible for a Schenectady student to attend a charter school outside of the district. Who pays for the cost of this and could getting those students to consider the schools available in the district be a way to save some money? Is there an outreach effort to connect with parents of charter school students?

A: The district is responsible for paying for all charter school students who reside in the city, regardless of where they attend. The district does not pay for the transportation of these students however. There have been many efforts to reach out to parents of charter school students over the past few years and we believe we have been very successful integrating and welcoming over 450 charter school students back into our district over the past several months.

No offense, but I do not think Charter Schools are really that necessary. Education is what you put into it, not just where you attend. Also, I feel that SCSD offers a lot for students, especially once they start reaching higher grades ( Middle School+), just students need to take advantage of opportunities given.

Would an alternative school or small charter school at the high school level be helpful for the students who for whatever reason, have not taken advantage of the opportunities available for regular education? Students in Schenectady come from very diverse backgrounds. Some kids may not realize until it is almost too late that they want to get through school and graduate. There are charter schools in Milwaukee WI that have a military type of discipline, alternative schools across the nation that use different approaches and other alternatives. Why not have an intense, small, structured environment for the kids who may thrive in that setting or another alternative?

Sandra wrote:

Would an alternative school or small charter school at the high school level be helpful for the students who for whatever reason, have not taken advantage of the opportunities available for regular education? Students in Schenectady come from very diverse backgrounds. Some kids may not realize until it is almost too late that they want to get through school and graduate. There are charter schools in Milwaukee WI that have a military type of discipline, alternative schools across the nation that use different approaches and other alternatives. Why not have an intense, small, structured environment for the kids who may thrive in that setting or another alternative?

One of the biggest problems with having a military type of discipline, is we have many parents who will not allow that. They will not allow their children a structured program, complete with discipline. As a youth, most of the adults I know were disciplined and it worked. We were disciplined from the school and our families. Nowadays many parents are very negative about getting any form of discipline at school. I often hear parents with attitudes saying things to the effect of, "Nobody is gonna tell my kid what and what not to do." I hear this also from the students themselves. I think it would be great to have a more disciplined structure. If students are not going to listen or follow the rules, there should be no In School or out of school suspension. They should be cleaning out toilets with a toothbrush, washing the school, cleaning the yards of the schools. The problem is that many people think it is cruel. It is much better than sitting in a jail cell someday because there was no effective discipline.

Could the elementary school parents at Howe band together and push for a new charter school to be created? It could focus on the original goals of the magnet school, keep the existing 6 grade students for next year's 7th grade and add 8th grade a year later. Administration does not seem to care about the parents so why not work together and create an independent learning environment that is good for our young kids, which parents would have more control over? Each year a new grade could be added and enrollment limited to keep the class sizes tolerable. Behavior expectations could be included as part of the charter and we could continue to focus on international education.

Who do parents contact and how can we make this happen?

Schenectady already had a Charter school and it failed and closed. I had the option as well as many other parents to put my child in the Charter school and chose city schools.

Whilst acknowledging that more choices for parents/children of all ages is a good thing, I do not think that the Charter School system is the way to go.

I do not know why Mr. Ely, the School District, or the School Board would or should advocate a new Charter School situation.
It's my understanding that Charter School's are run by PRIVATE organizations and have basically nothing directly to do with the School District that they reside in.
These are PRIVATE organizations whose primary purpose is to make money! Not to primarily provide an education to our children.
For all the faults in the Public School system (and it is far from perfect), I genuinely believe that its primary purpose is to educate our children.

The only interaction that I am aware of is that the Charter School gets it funding from the School District.
Which means, that for every child that goes to a Charter School, the school district has to send a certain sum of monies to the Charter School.
Also, I believe, the district is responsible for paying additional expenses like busing.
This is money, I think, is better left inside the School District. There are much more pressing needs for the money within the School District as it especially with the budget issues that we are currently presented with.

I am also not sure that the requirements to run a Charter School are as stringent as the Public School System.
For example, I don't think the curriculum is standard and I don't think the teacher's need the same qualifications (NYS Certification etc.).
Mr. Ely, can you please correct me if I am wrong!

A Charter School was already tried and failed, not only did it cost the District a large sum of money that probably could have been spent better. it FAILED the kids/parents who went to it and then had to be re-assigned back into Schenectady Schools.
I wonder if the organization/people running the previous Charter School walked away with our money in their pockets?

Charter schools can be for profit, but are usually run as a not for profit 503(c)(3). The students have to take the same state tests. And they have to have a curriculum and stick to it. This is what happened at the charter here in Schenectady, they were following Iowa Standards and a curriculum from there, and so the standards didn't match up. Also I am not sure about how they did on state tests but I heard rumors it wasn't good. I know a few teachers that worked there, they were very good teachers.

The Albany Charter system is a model for charter schools around the country, they have the highest test scores in the city of Albany. They are run by a not for profit foundation. I have been in a few of the charter schools in Albany and while they are good schools, I would never send my son to one. Some people like the strong focus on the fundamentals of math and ELA, I want my son to have a more rounded education. Plus there is a high level of regimentation that I find somewhat troubling, and generally makes me uncomfortable.

Oh and one more thing, 90% of there teachers have to be certified.

A: Charter Schools are public schools that paid for by taking funds from the students’ local school districts.

The theory is that charter schools will provide competition to the public school systems and a choice for parents. However there are a large number of public school regulations that charter schools do not have to follow including teachers qualifications and fiscal oversight.

The actual amount paid to the charter school per student is determined by the state. School districts are billed every two months for a number of students the charter school claims attend the school regardless of whether or not there is any documentation to support the claim.

The International Charter School was closed by the SUNY Board of Trustees after several years of poor student results and management issues.

Typically, charter schools are governed by a self selected board of people who may or may not come from the actual community they serve. The charter school themselves are typically operated by a management company some of which are non-profit and some of which are for profit.

When ICSS was closed, the Schenectady City School District was paying nearly $7 million per year to ICSS to operate a school with a reported enrollment of 550 students. We opened three smaller schools this year to accomodate aboout 450 students who returned back to our district from the charter school. We are educating the same children for about half of the cost.

ICSS walked away from a building purchased with our school district tuition money and about a $6.5 million dept owed to First Niagara Bank. There doesn’t seem to be any oversight or reconciliation regarding the whereabouts of the rest of the nearly $30 million the district paid in tuition payments over the past several year prior to its closing.