KIPP Funding In Charter Schools

As explained in Diane Ravitch's article, “American Schools in CRISIS,” educators are provided with little job security under Bush's No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Obama's Race to the Top educational reform initiatives; where teachers can be fired based on poor standardized test scores from their students (50). The majority of new teachers already quit within five years of entering the field; “demoralized” (Ravitch 50) by the effects of such high stakes and low resources (Ravitch 52). To combat this figure, many states have decreased the requirements for becoming a teacher, even allowing online licensure in Texas (Ravitch 51). To lower the standards of the “conservators of our common future” (Barber 122) is an irresponsible practice that must be reversed if students are to succeed. Barber proposes paying early childhood educators as much as lawyers to attract better teachers. Higher wages would encourage more ambitious individuals to enter the fields of primary and secondary education. Without highly-trained and intelligent educators, who are dedicated to progress and change, students will continue to stumble through a broken system, woefully unprepared for the task of becoming productive citizens.

I’ve always thought students education couldn’t have improved from what it is now. After reading “Marita’s Bargain” it showed me that students are learning a totally different way than I learned. The different methods work more efficiently and it makes sense statically. Student feel or wonder if the class they take now will help them in the future and in “Marita’s Bargain” every class they took benefited their education and opened doors for them.

In taking a brief look at the Oklahoma education system, one need not look far before issues of significant underfunding and understaffing come directly into view. Many different proposals regarding what Oklahoma needs to do to resolve this problem have been suggested in the past, but very few of these proposals outline an answer regarding how these fixes will be implemented. How Oklahoma's educational system can increase the effectiveness of its limited funding is something that can be addressed with simple cost-effective steps and strategies that have proven their effectiveness in other states. Additionally, the issue of understaffing can be looked at from a fresh perspective in order to understand what the Oklahoma education system can do to bring in new teachers and keep these teachers. Finally, in joining with national-level movements and interest groups such as the National Education Association which can help with budgetary issues and Teach for America which can help to bring in new, trained and enthusiastic teachers into areas of Oklahoma that have seen poor performance from students in the past.

In 2011 while Texas was still under the leadership of Governor Perry, 5.4 billion dollars were cut from educational spending, leading to overcrowded rooms and leaving out students from attending Pre-K (Michels). A study from the Texas Education Agency showed that students who attended Pre-K outperformed students on their math and reading tests versus those who did not attend regardless of socioeconomic status. The aftermath of policies cutting down on educational funding are slowly showing their aftermath, and if something is not done to solve those problems, then it can be assured that a great downfall to the state of Texas will be seen.

The new changes No Child Left Behind laws were passed earlier in 2010 stresses the importance of education has to be our main concern to ensure that our children are getting quality education. The legislation is called “Performance Counts,” It reevaluates tenure laws and evaluation. This means that teachers are evaluated and being laid off because of their performance in the classrooms. No matter how long the teacher has been in his/her position that still wouldn’t keep them in their position because of their low performance. Over the next 10 years the focus will be to prepare hundreds of new teachers in STEM science, technology, engineering, and math (Mclatchy, 2010). The program is to encourage students in the STEM field or alternative teacher certification programs to switch their careers if they choose to. For

When looking at District Report Cards all we usually hear about is student data, not realizing that there is also teacher data reported in this document. Looking over the data as a whole the schools are pretty similar in teacher data. Attendance was at between 93% and 94%, while teacher-students ratio per 1000 students was lower than the state average in all schools. Teacher’s average pay was within $5000.00, MCSD was the lowest at $52,000.00 and CCSD being the highest at $57,000.00. Looking at teacher and principal evaluations YCSD and MCSD had no teachers with an Effective evaluation, the highest percentage of teachers fell under Accomplished in evaluations. As for principals YCSD and MCSD principals were either Accomplished or Skilled, the majority were Skilled, in all Districts. As for CCSD, they had no one Accomplished, but they did have Developing and Effective.

In being promoted to State Street Elementary Head Building Principal in 2016, Mr. Jacob Sholtis, a white male, has already demonstrated his ability to successfully lead a large suburban school building. At the age of 35, he is the youngest head building principal in the school district by around ten years. Moreover, he is a graduate of the neighboring school district Hanover Area. For this reason, he is a native of the Wyoming Valley community with an extensive background of the area.

As a new charter school located in a vibrant neighborhood in Wilmington, our school has worked directly with neighbors, community groups, local nonprofit organizations and local elected and government leaders to establish a good relationship and prepare the way for our students and families to benefit from our neighborhood and location. The Brandywine neighborhood where our school is located is in the center of downtown Wilmington, easily accessible to many local businesses and government agencies, and area neighborhoods, by foot and by public transportation. We have worked extensively with local community groups, agencies and organizations to ensure that the relationship between our school and the community is mutually beneficial. When

Most people believe that students do better in well-funded schools and that public education should provide a level playing field for children. Nearly half of the funding for public schools in the United States, however, is provided through local taxes, generating large differences in funding between wealthy and impoverished communities (National Center for Education Statistics, 2000a). Efforts to reduce these disparities have provoked controversy and resistance. Public school funding the United States comes from federal, state, and local sources, but because nearly half of those funds come from local property taxes, the system generates large funding differences between wealthy and impoverished communities. Such differences exist among states, among school districts within each state, and even among schools within specific districts.

The No Child Left Behind act emerged as a result of a massive increase in the costs of schools, while failing to show an improvement in their students performances. (Paterson 32) Since these standardized test have been in effect teachers have been judged off them. The problem is that

The state of Arizona is facing a serious education crisis in the retention of qualified teachers. Personally, my school in Yuma, Arizona encountered an average of seven new teachers every year. Yuma High School District allowed for a teacher to teach chemistry when his/her Bachelor’s degree was in mathematics. According to the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ enacted in 2001, schools are required to provide “highly qualified” teachers to teach at all times (Educator Excellence). Having quality, long-term teachers is imperative to develop students in becoming productive members of society. Unfortunately due to federal budget cuts directly affecting education, Timothy L. Ogle, executive director of the Arizona School Boards Association, says, “Arizona has faced the most dramatic cuts to K-12 education spending of any state in the nation” (Lopez). As a result, administration is forced to have teachers make up for the lack of a certain subject by teaching it without qualifications. Due to this, out-of-state teachers leave within the first 5 years, and 25% all leave within the first year. Some reasons for this include a

Now a day’s Texas is growing profoundly, but as it cultivates so does its problems. One of the major issues facing Texas today is in the education department. The matter ranges from school funding to standardized testing. Not only are students themselves complaining about the matters at hand but also parents, some teachers, and even state legislature. There have always been five major issues in Texas education; school finance, school choice, expanding pre-kindergarten, school calendar, and testing. Of these issues you could never think of them separately because no matter how hard you try they will, in the end, affect one another.

America’s education is failing, and serious reform is needed. The topic of education has been in the forefront over the last few decades. Many, including politicians have attempted to tackle what seemed to be a hopeless situation. With all the corruption and bureaucracy within the system, it is unlikely that this problem will be resolved anytime soon. However, there is hope amidst all this, and that is charter schools. Charter schools impact education by having passionate teachers who truly care for their students’ well-being, use up-to-date school methodology, are able to function with less bureaucracy, and have accountability that results in less corruption, and increased cost efficiency.

Massachusetts has always taken pride in their superior academic standing in comparison to the rest of the nation, showing why there was an upheaval in the system when people began to argue over on how to vote on question two in the election. Question Two focused on expanding the cap on funding for Charter Schools in Massachusetts. This issue was particularly controversial in Massachusetts because not all people are able to recognize the value that Charter Schools hold in expanding the educational opportunities in Massachusetts. Charter schools have proven to have a large impact on educational in urban areas, however charter schools are also extremely beneficial in the suburban communities of Massachusetts. According to Matt Rocheleau from the Boston Globe, “Massachusetts ranks in the top tier nationally when it comes to median household income, but within itself there is a vast range in earnings.” This vast range in income affects many suburban areas in Massachusetts as some communities are at the maximum end of the spectrum, as other suburbs float barley at the middle. Often times, people pin Massachusetts suburbs as white, middle to upper class families with outstanding public schools. However, the gap in average incomes also affects the educational choices for children in these suburban communities, as all of the families in the community are not making the same amount of money. Many of these suburban communities pride themselves in making sure that their children have an

Oklahoma as of today is ranked 49th nationally in per-pupil expenditures and ranked 48th in teacher pay (Klein 2). Putting Oklahoma as one of the worst states to be educated in the United States. “Oklahoma is consistently ranked near the bottom for education funding and teacher pay” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth And Job Creation” 3). When there are state cuts that need to be made, the departments of education are one of the first that usually tend to suffer. Since the 2008 economic crisis, Oklahoma has continued to cut the budget for education; even though the economy has since then gotten better (Perry). Budget cuts in education affect all parts of the education process for the students. “Some school districts have ordered teacher layoffs and shorter sessions” (“Oklahoma Makes the Poor Poorer” par 4).Schools are now struggling to keep their heads above water. Each year from the budget cutting, schools have had to lay off teachers, cut entire programs, and have limited resources used to educate the students. Even the teachers’ retirement system is suffering, being one of the top poorly funded pension programs nationally (Ash par 3). Seeing as that the schools have to cut down classes and programs, administration has had no other choice than to increase class size, overwhelming teachers tremendously. “Oklahoma has 1,500 fewer classroom teachers and 40,000 more students since 2008-2009” (“Investing In Education Is Key For Growth