Sydney Smith (Blog #17)

Our society screams for freedom. Two of the most popular phrases in American politics right now are “legalize” and “free choice”. As young people especially, we long for a world where we are free from restriction- restriction by our parents, restriction by the government, and especially restriction by our teachers. We fight back with campaigns like, “Legalize marijuana”, “Pro- choice”, and “Freedom of Speech”. Our thirst for freedom is never quenched, as we discover more and more areas of our lives where we feel we are being oppressed. One of these areas, a fairly recent addition to our societal cry for freedom, is school choice: the right of parents to choose their children's education. In a day where many public schools are failing, school districts are going bankrupt, and dropout rates have reached an all- time high, parents have begun to push back on the bureaucratic school systems and demand a better education for their children. Most parents can’t afford to send their children to private school, and public schools have remained the only other option for them. But just because a family can’t afford to send their child to private school doesn’t mean they should be forced to accept a lesser quality education. This is America- the land of opportunities. The land of freedom. I believe that charter schools are the solution to our national education crisis and the implementation of more charter schools will allow our children to get a better education.

          Charter schools are held to a higher standard of accountability than traditional public schools, which has led to their stellar reputations as educational beacons. If you aren’t familiar with charter schools, this is the most important thing that sets them apart from their traditional counterparts. A group of people obtains a “charter” or grant from the government, and opens their charter school. A majority of charter schools are non- unionized, so they are free to hire and fire teachers as necessary. The staff is held accountable for the education they provide, and if it is not good enough, they are fired. Charter schools are also given significant leeway in the material that is taught. However, they are expected to produce excellent scores within five years; if they don’t, their charter is revoked and the school is closed. In his book Charter Schools and Accountability in Public Education, Professor Paul Hill examines over one hundred and twenty charter schools across America and concludes that the reason for their superior test scores is their total dependence on their performance to keep their funding, which compels them to remain at a high quality level despite their lack of rules and regulations.

          Not only are charter schools not restricted by the oppressive rules of their traditional counterparts, charter schools are a new and unfamiliar addition to our existing education system. The documentary Waiting For Superman documents the recent history of charter schools since the twenty- first century. Traditional public schools have existed in America since the early 18^th century, but charter schools only began to emerge in the 20^th century- with increasing popularity since the beginning of the 21^st century. For these reasons, much controversy still surrounds them. According to a recent article by Vanderbilt University education Professor Chester Finn, the American public has become increasingly less skeptical of the idea of school choice. However, those who still oppose the idea list their number one reason as their unfamiliarity with the concept and its newness in relation to our existing public education system. Due to the rapid growth in popularity charter schools have experienced in the past few decades, it is clear that once people become more familiar with the system, the idea of school choice will become even more popular.

          However, the truth remains that charter schools simply produce better test scores than traditional public schools. According to a meta- analysis by the University of California’s Economics Department, charter school students continue to out- perform traditional students in nationally standardized tests of English, reading, and math. While controlling for factors such as geographic location, race of students, and socioeconomic status of students, they have analyzed these scores each year for the past ten years, concluding that charter schools outperform their traditional counterparts- and they do it with smaller budgets and fewer staff members.

          Children are the future. We will grow up someday and use the education that we received when we were younger to contribute to society: cure cancer, start Fortune 500 companies, and bring the world closer together. When we have completed our education, we will be expected to put the skills we have learned to good use. If we support school choice and local charter schools, the education quality will rise significantly. And just think what a generation of charter school students can accomplish- the new world they will create.