Comments on: Two Green Dot Schools Among US News’ 100 Best http://witnessla.com/education/2008/admin/two-green-dot-schools-among-us-news-100-best/ street news, views and stories of justice and injustice Sun, 12 Feb 2012 04:08:51 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: L. A. Teacher http://witnessla.com/education/2008/admin/two-green-dot-schools-among-us-news-100-best/comment-page-1/#comment-80854 L. A. Teacher Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:34:03 +0000 http://witnessla.com/education/2008/admin/two-green-dot-schools-among-us-news-100-best/#comment-80854 Parents should have a right to select the best learning environment for their children. That being said, charter schools have a huge advantage over public schools because they can require 30-40 hour committments from parents. At the South L.A. public school where I work, there are parents who have been called, mailed, and even had attendance counselors sent to their house, who we have never met and will probably never meet. It is not the fault of the child that they have deadbeat parents, and I am proud of the fact that we open our doors to ALL students. Charter schools have a lengthy application process (some are 10 pages long) and this, by default, encourages the most pro-active parents to apply. At my school, enrollment is automatic if they live in the neighborhood. Finally, only the most well-behaved students get to attend charters. We have to take back all those kicked out of the Green Dots, College Ready, and TAS. I ask each student what thy did to get kicked out, and reasons range from throwing a pencil at a teacher (I have been punched, shoved, and cursed profanely and these do not even merit a transfer if the student is Special Ed), to refusing to tell the Principal who started a fight on the street (this child wasn't in the fight, but didn't want to tell for fear of retribution). On Friday, a visiting former student at a Green Dot charter told me that his principal decided to teach a lesson to a student who refused to stop listening to an Ipod by taking it away, tossing it in the air while saying "I hope I don't drop it", and then he dropped it. All of this to say that charters, by nature of their independence, get to circumvent policies we have in place at public schools. This results in a crop of students who are more motivated and disciplined and therefore perform better academically. If my school threw out students who yelled at teachers, cursed, tagged, and had neglectful parents, we would be "outperforming" other schools too. Parents should have a right to select the best learning environment for their children. That being said, charter schools have a huge advantage over public schools because they can require 30-40 hour committments from parents. At the South L.A. public school where I work, there are parents who have been called, mailed, and even had attendance counselors sent to their house, who we have never met and will probably never meet. It is not the fault of the child that they have deadbeat parents, and I am proud of the fact that we open our doors to ALL students.

Charter schools have a lengthy application process (some are 10 pages long) and this, by default, encourages the most pro-active parents to apply. At my school, enrollment is automatic if they live in the neighborhood.

Finally, only the most well-behaved students get to attend charters. We have to take back all those kicked out of the Green Dots, College Ready, and TAS. I ask each student what thy did to get kicked out, and reasons range from throwing a pencil at a teacher (I have been punched, shoved, and cursed profanely and these do not even merit a transfer if the student is Special Ed), to refusing to tell the Principal who started a fight on the street (this child wasn’t in the fight, but didn’t want to tell for fear of retribution). On Friday, a visiting former student at a Green Dot charter told me that his principal decided to teach a lesson to a student who refused to stop listening to an Ipod by taking it away, tossing it in the air while saying “I hope I don’t drop it”, and then he dropped it.

All of this to say that charters, by nature of their independence, get to circumvent policies we have in place at public schools. This results in a crop of students who are more motivated and disciplined and therefore perform better academically. If my school threw out students who yelled at teachers, cursed, tagged, and had neglectful parents, we would be “outperforming” other schools too.

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