Recently I’ve seen a few letters complaining about funding for public charter schools. These complaints seem to be focused on the issue of public money being supposedly diverted from regular public schools and funneled into “private” charter schools. The truth is that because both regular public schools and public charter schools continue to be chronically underfunded, an intense competition has arisen between them. Neither of these school choices have access to the kind of resources and funding that our children need and deserve.
Charter schools have, in part, arisen as a viable option for just this reason; that the public schools are terribly under-resourced and under-funded. It is sad that unless a parent is lucky enough to win a coveted lottery spot for their child at one of the higher performing magnet schools that their only other choice is their local, underfunded, and in many cases “failing” neighborhood public school. Understandably many parents are seeking better options for their children and this is where public charters have arisen to offer parents another option. But, although public charters exist as a viable option for our children and although most of them have been shown to consistently outperform regular public schools they are still not equally funded. This situation needs to change, and thankfully Governor Malloy supports making those changes.
Far from being populated solely by students who are guaranteed to succeed many of Connecticut's public charters are serving children who have fallen through the cracks of their local public school systems. These charter schools employ enhanced curriculum, provide extra support for struggling learners and offer a small, supportive environment where students who may have been falling behind in traditional public schools are now able to succeed. The public charters in Connecticut provide a much needed solution for parents struggling to find a school that fits the particular needs of their children. And, thankfully, we do have a choice. Don't all of our children deserve to be in a school where they can thrive? The families that chose charter schools are not wealthy families who can afford to send their children to private school. These are families like mine. Well, maybe not exactly like mine. I actually decided to homeschool my son from third through eighth grade when it became clear that he was not thriving in our local public school. We couldn't afford to send him to private school so we decided to give homeschooling a try. Homeschooling was the right option for us for the grammar school years but when he reached eighth grade my son decided that he wanted to attend high school. We had the choice of sending him to a large public high school or of applying to a small, local charter school. We chose the charter school and are extremely happy with that choice. Because of it's small size, the extraordinary commitment of it's excellent teachers and staff and the sense of community the school provides, my son has made an amazing transition back into school. He is involved with many extra-curricular activities, has made great friends and is on the academic honor roll.
Just as I had the choice to homeschool in Connecticut, so also did I have the choice to send my child to a public charter school. When I first heard about the brave stand that Governor Malloy was taking regarding fair funding for charters I was overjoyed. Finally, I thought, here is a governor who may be able to take charge of the educational disparities that exist in Connecticut and do something about them. And, even though we still have a long way to go in terms of giving public charter schools equal funding, the tide is now beginning to move in the right direction and that gives me hope for the future.
Gwen Petti
New Haven