What is a Magnet School?
In contrast with charter and private schools, a magnet school is an exclusive part of the local public school system. Normal public schools use geographic zones to determine where students will attend school. This means that students attend the school that is closest to where they live. Magnet schools operate outside of zoned school boundaries, but remain under the same administration and part of the local public school system. The U.S. Department of Education provides financial assistance for these schools through their Magnet Schools Assistance program.
http://www2.ed.gov/programs/magnet/index.html
What is the Purpose of Magnet Schools?
Magnet schools originally began as part of a mass effort to desegregate public schools. Today, they serve the same mission by giving students opportunities to select schools that best fit their needs. Ideally, these same students will enrich the school’s demographic makeup by representing different social and ethnic backgrounds. When it comes to the curriculum, almost all magnet schools use special course loads to incentivize students from various neighborhoods to attend. The goal
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To illustrate, both charter and magnet schools are technically public schools, but charter schools are not required to follow the same state rules and regulations that public and magnet schools must follow. Instead, charter schools are free to select which textbooks to use, which courses to teach and which teachers to hire. That is, they are allowed to hire teachers who do not meet the state’s minimum licensing qualifications. Magnet and public schools are managed by the school district, but charter schools are controlled by an internal board of directors. The admissions processes in magnet schools is often quite rigorous and competitive, but charter schools use open enrollment admission and maintain long wait
There are a number of ways that charter schools give parents greater individual control over their childrens’ education. No longer is a child bound to attend a particular school based on the geographical location of his or her home. Parents have the freedom to select a charter school that they feel would best suit the needs of their children1. Parents also have a greater say in the affairs of charter schools compared to public schools. In many instances, parents serve on the “board of education” governing the charter school, a board whose context is determined by a school’s charter and not state law. This contrasts with the traditional public school board that is limited to seven members elected from the community-at-large, regardless of whether board members have children in school. Moreover, a charter school board is entirely occupied with the operations of just one school instead of an entire district. Charter school supporters argue that this leads to less bureaucracy and greater efficiency in creating school policy that ultimately benefits students.
Public education has had a negative effect on students; it’s often because of the bigger class sizes, poor test scores, and high crime in the surrounding areas. Public schools need to revise their system to determine what’s the best fit for their student’s educational needs. All children who live in a school district have a right to attend a district school. Many parents would like more options and opportunities for their child, and would like to be involved in their child’s education. Charter schools are part of the answer for a better educational choice for children’s academic achievement. Charter schools have many successful methods and continue to pave the way for children’s education needs .
Why would students want to attend a magnet school? The reason may be because magnet schools offer a variety of specialized programs that students can choose from. Programs such as visual and performing arts, mathematics, sciences, and many others are available for students to choose from. Similar to having a major in college, students at magnet schools have their own specialized area that they can take classes in, in addition to basic academic classes. They are encouraged to be creative and to hone their skills in their area of interest.
In recent years, the Arizona education department has been under fire after the Arizona legislature passed a law banning Mexican-American studies in schools (Planas, 2015, p. 1). Not only have the schools in Arizona suffered from this discriminatory law, but also the advancement of Mexican-American students. This essay will briefly go over the Tucson Unified School District, the district in the midst of the controversy, and will mainly focus on Pueblo Magnet High School, one of the schools in the Tucson Unified School District that was greatly affected by the ethnic studies law.
According to Atila Abdulkadiroglu, many have adopted a “No Excuses” policy which is generally characterized by smaller sized classrooms, frequent testing, longer school days and more school days in the year, selective teacher hiring, strong student work ethic, and include an increased emphasis on discipline (Abdulkadiroglu 699-700). Charter Schools also expect a certain amount of parent participation: either in-classroom assistance, being an active component in the Parent-Teacher Organization, volunteering assistance with fund-raising activities, or wherever else the school may have need. Therefore, sending a child to a Charter School usually requires a significant investment of time and effort from the parents as well: for example, the school may not be able to provide transportation, hot lunches (meaning lunch must be packed every day), and whatever the school may expect in parent participation. Entrance into many of these acclaimed Charter Schools is not always that easy. There are frequently many, many students applying for just a few spots available. These schools typically employ a lottery system which gives each student an equal chance; however, there are just not enough spots available for all the students who wish to attend—someone always loses. In comparison, Public Schools are restricted by a massive hierarchy of educational bureaucracy: they must answer to
Why choose to go to Charter School rather than public school? Charter schools are public school of choice, meaning families choose for their children. Federal legislation provides grants to help charters to manage start-up costs. They create better educational opportunities for the students therefore they have higher expectations in teaching. Charter Schools and zoned (public) schools are tuition free but unfortunately not everyone can get in to Charter school, since it works by lottery. Everyone has the opportunity to apply and has a choice to attend Charlet School if the students are lucky enough to get in. Charter schools are more effective for three reasons: they have higher graduation rates, teachers are more prepared and devoted to their students, and teachers take a greater responsibility for their students as they compete against Zoned Schools.
Charter schools are often misconceived as private schools, but they are in fact public schools. Charters like all public schools have open admission policies and cannot “accept or reject students based on their test scores, student and family interviews, religious affiliation, ability to pay tuition, or general fit with the school’s mission” (Public Agenda, 2016). Charter schools, because of their popularity, will most often have lotteries – or a simple drawing of names – to determine who will attend. This is the fairest way to accept students without being accused of discrimination or favoring.
In today's world violence, chaos, and death has become too common and too redundant. It seems as though every day there is a new story in the newspaper about police brutality , the corruptions of society , and civil wars within developing countries. Despite the fact that we can easily look up information about the daily traditions and values of different cultures around the world we fail to do so. The lack of knowledge about other people and societies ,besides our own, causes a shallow understanding of why people do the things we hear and see in the headlines. This magnet school appeals to me because I believe learning about the world's customs will help me in my future goals to become a journalist.
There is one thing that a lot of public schools do very well is make them magnet schools for arts, drama and science but they never come
Many charter schools are known for their rigorous programs that challenge students to fulfill specific requirements that are different from traditional schools. Charter schools also value the idea of cultivating students with a talent for arts, technology or music (Chen). Institutions such as charter schools may be viewed as open or loosely constructed based on the unique guidelines displayed in each school’s charter, but in reality this is untrue because the individuality of each charter is what allows each student to excel based on the personalization and attention given to every single student who attends. A charter school has the potential to reach out into the community and help children who are not able to fit in at a traditional public school and it may allow the student to learn from a new perspective. Any child is allowed to apply to a charter school and they are admitted on a first-come, first served basis or through a lottery. The decision is not made on race or sex of the child and there is a fair chance for every student. A charter school is a great alternative to private school because there is no tuition fee at a charter school which is run by the state. Operators of the charter schools are able to provide children with a school that will create new and improved services which are lacking in the public school districts (“Charter School FAQ”). A charter school can also help
Charter schools must be in compliance with and follow the open enrollment process and its
Although very risky, starting a charter school has its advantages too. A study performed by Phi Delta Kappa International focuses on the differences between charter schools and public schools. This study gives a comprehensive interpretation of the advantages charter schools have over public schools. The study mainly focuses on the management aspect of the charter schools and shows how principals of charter schools use their power to put their schools ahead of public schools. A former public school principle interviewed eight charter school principals on how they hired teachers. The interviews suggested “that charters schools are serving as exciting seedbeds for new approaches to finding, employing, and keeping better teachers.”( Finn) Interestingly enough some principals would be willing to hire non-state certified teachers to meet their standards of quality. These principals were looking for was a teacher who was “highly intelligent, had prestigious college background, was articulate, and liked kids.”(Finn) Although they would be taking a risk hiring someone without the standard teaching qualifications set by the state, they knew that with their intelligence and prestige, they would strive to educate the children as they would themselves. The charter school system gives the principal the power to hire teachers which enables them to select the teachers that match the needs and culture of their school. Most of these principals look for overachievers, those "who want to
Charter schools have recently become a topic of debate among educators. Charter schools are schools working in the public sector of education while also being privately owned. Charter schools are privately run, but receive public funding. There has been much debate since the sprouting of Charter schools about the demographics being represented and underrepresented. While there is evidence to support both sides of this argument, it should be clear to anyone after doing the research that charter schools are an overall negative aspect of the educational system.
Education is a very important part of a person’s life. Every parent want the best thing for their children. They want their children to be happy and to be able to achieve their dreams and be what they want to be, which is why they want the best education for their children. Because, almost everyone would agree that being well – educated is the closest way to success life and good future. But, their desire to send their kids to the best school have to face many obstacles. One of these obstacles would be choosing school for their kids. In the U.S., there are three types of school: public school, charter school and private school. Private schools are usually very selective, has better performance than government-funded school and has expensive tuition fee. Rich families would send their kids to private schools because they could afford the expense. However, for a normal family, paying the expense for private schools would be overwhelming. So, there options are narrowed between charter schools and public schools. There have been many debates on whether charter schools or public schools provide students with better education. But, there are obvious evidences that charter schools are generally better than public schools:
Today, we know integration has a positive effect on almost every aspect of schooling that matters. We also know integration matters for all students. Both minorities and whites are disadvantaged by attending racially isolated schools, although in somewhat different ways. Predominantly minority schools as a whole had inadequate and unfair educational opportunities. First, these schools tend to serve predominantly poor students. Due to poor situations at home and by the student's friends and sometimes relatives these schools routinely had lower rates of achievement than students in mostly average income schools. This holds true regardless of a student's race or socioeconomic status. More importantly, predominantly poor and minority schools find it extremely difficult to attract and retain high-quality