Chronicles: Public Or Charter?

Teacher pay and quality aren't the only dilemmas plaguing American education these days. The other elephant in the room begs the question; what's a family to do when facing the obstacle that is planning their child's journey through the American education system? Compulsory education implores everyone to do it. The law in most states dictates one must formally educate their children from the ages of 6 - 16. Traditionally most families begin much sooner and end much later. Its purpose is to ensure all citizens are well-educated enough to keep democracy alive. And so before we ever have children our collective conscience tells us we must engage them and educate them for the better part of their childhood. 

Some families are fortunate enough to possess the emotional, financial, and mental resources to homeschool their children. This option at its outset is ideal because it ensures the smallest of class sizes, customized instruction, and the most caring teachers. Of course, not every family has the resources this choice requires. In most American households all the adults have to work and that leaves little time to dedicate to formally educating the children. Buying curriculum and ensuring you supply them with all the materials they'll need is also financially challenging, limiting this option to few families. Some do it anyway, when all the necessary resources aren't in tact, but this may not be the best way to ensure a child's solid social, emotional, financial standing in adulthood. It's just something to consider.

There are families who choose the private option. This is a great opportunity, and as such it is a privilege, not a right. Families who can pay seriously hefty sums of money have this option. In the most ideal situations, these children attend schools with small classes, well-sourced curriculum, and access to amazing extra-curricular activities. Of course, one must possess a great deal of financial resources to have this choice as a viable option. Vouchers have become a way for some families to be able to take advantage of this choice, however by and large most of the students in these schools are children of financially privileged backgrounds. While homeschooling and private options do not give students a real world understanding of social or economic diversity, they perform the perfunctory skill of teaching your children what you believe they need to know.

For everyone else, there's public education. Joe and Jenny Taxpayer pay for the provision of these schools. Our tax dollars are funneled into multi-million dollar education systems that run a little like factories to churn out kiddos with enough skills to hopefully eek out a worthwhile existence in America. Pre- No Child Left Behind, there wasn't much choice. Children went to the schools within their district boundaries. Unfortunately, boundary lines were drawn in much the same way we do everything. The boundaries tended to segregate communities along social and economic lines so that schools would have a disproportionate number of types, rather than having a heterogeneous approach wherein students from all walks of life would interact and build community, thereby creating the same type of community as they grow into adulthood. One can dream. Of course, this delineation changed a little with the invention of charter schools. Choice has taken on a life of its own within the public education system. Charter schools are public schools that only receive the base pay per student, not providing property taxes or any other taxes that would accompany a child's presence. This means charters typically run on about 18 - 25% less cash than a district school. And, that number can be a lot bigger in some cases. While it is public, the red tape doesn't strangle its management in the way it does district public schools. Charters are usually able to customize curriculum, hire and fire teachers at will, and compromise somewhat on the benefits they offer teachers and staff. 

 While it feels good to have a choice, it becomes an overwhelming task to decide how your children are going to spend the next 13 years of their lives for 10 months each year at a rate of several hours each day. That is a lot of time and a lot of childhood experiences that will inevitably shape at least some of your child's worldview. That said, let's examine the differences between charters and district schools to gain some insight into what would be best for your family.