My three children attend a charter school in Cleveland. Their school has been rated effective by the Ohio Department of Education. The school is housed in a former Cleveland public school building. The building is old; it was built in 1921, yet it is warm safe and dry.
A charter school is in fact a public school. All are welcome. It is a public school which is not managed by the municipal school district, it is privately managed.
The school is funded in part by state monies. Currently the state provides $5000+ per student. The charter school does not receive funding from municipal property tax dollars like the municipal schools do.
In Cleveland, the metropolitan school district also receives funding from the state. The CMSD receives the same $5000+ per student that the charter schools receive from the state. In addition, the Cleveland municipal school district receives an additional $6000+. Some of this $6000+ comes from city school levies; which are monies raised from increases in property tax dollars that the voters can approve. Unfortunately, not all voters pay property taxes. And for other property owners, property taxes do not apply. They are exempted from paying property taxes by something called “tax abatement”. Cleveland’s sports facilities are some of the biggest beneficiaries of tax abatement. They are exempt from paying their share of property taxes which would directly help the schools.
Oh but we need those sports heroes. (The governor himself even came to Cleveland last year to lend his support when the huge LeBron James poster hanging on the side of a Cleveland building was threatened with removal. I invited Governor Strickland to visit my children's state rated effective charter school, but he has not responded. I guess he only makes visits to Cleveland for important issues like "King James".)
Check out these stories that show the importance of the sign situation:
LeBron’s more important - Link 1
LeBron’s more important - Link 2
LeBron’s more important - Link 3
LeBron’s more important - Link 4
LeBron’s more important - Link 5
LeBron’s more important - Link 6
The municipal schools and their administrations are upset that the charter schools have moved in. The charter schools by giving parents an actual choice on where their kids can go to school have in fact broken the monopoly of the municipal school. The most troubling thing to them about the charter schools is that unlike parochial schools, the charter schools are allowed to use the state funding.
The municipal school districts have been actively targeting the threat of the charter schools using many different arguments. The biggest argument is that the charter schools are taking away funding for their students. This is a convenient spin using their students as victims. Of course the argument is fallacious. To me, the argument has become old and worn out.
Another arguments is that charter schools are statistically far worse that the municipal schools. The arguer will show his data by showing the combined charter schools report card from the state against the combined municipal school report card from the state. When viewing these numbers, it does appear that the charter schools are doing terrible.
The one fact that is kept out of the argument is that not all municipalities across the state allow charter schools. The majority of charter schools only found in those cities where the municipal school systems have failed. The charter school offers another choice for parents who no longer wish to support their failing municipal school districts.
If you take all charter schools in Ohio and list them by zip code, and then compare them to the municipal school districts within those same zip codes, then the statistics become accurate. Now the argument is moot. You will even find in some cases, that it is the charter schools that are doing better than the municipal schools within the same municipality served.
From my blog, The Ohio Department of Education Numbers,
I show the ODE data between the Cleveland public schools and the charter schools within Cleveland. The charter schools are performing better according to the state data than the Cleveland public schools. And this is troubling to some of the teachers who post on the Cleveland.com education forum.
Now for the argument for funding; the argument that states charter schools are literally stealing away funds that would have gone to educate the municipal school kids. It is as if the Charter schools were not schools at all, but simply an entity; a thief who would blatantly steel and withhold monies from Cleveland’s kids.
But this is not the case. Charter schools are in fact just that; they are schools. And schools educate students.
The tired old argument that the charter schools are taking money away from the CMSD kids is nothing but baloney. I can use that same argument by stating that the
CMSD is taking money away from the charter school kids. The argument does work both ways.
The problem with this old argument is who the money actually belongs to. There is a misconception that the money belongs to the CMSD general fund. This implication could not be further from the truth.
The money going to charter schools comes from the school foundation formula. It is a “per pupil” amount. In essence, the money belongs to the student, and the student’s parents choose what school that money will support. The state pays the same per pupil amount to either a public or charter school for the students that are enrolled in the school district or charter school.
The premise that the public schools are losing money is inaccurate. The money is used to educate the children of Ohio. Charter school students are recipients of this money as well as the students of the CMSD. Since charter school students do not attend the CMSD nor do they do not receive any services from the Cleveland Schools, how can the charter schools be taking away monies from the CMSD?
There is no logical reason that the state monies allotted for charter school students education should go to a school system that they are not enrolled in, especially a failed system such as Cleveland. Considering that actual students are being educated at the charter schools with this state money, how can there be any money lost from the public schools?
Charter schools have broken the monopoly. Parents can now choose not to send their children to a failed municipal system and the municipal schools are not happy.
Let me put it another way using my three children as an example. In my children’s case, the Cleveland School system membership has actually decreased by three students because they are not enrolled there, and the Charter Schools have increased by three students. The state money does not belong to the CMSD general fund; the state money follows the student to the school they are enrolled in. It is the parent’s choice to enroll their children in a charter school. It follows reason that the Cleveland School system has not lost any money as they have three less students to serve and educate.
The State money used in my children’s charter school has been used properly and has not been wasted as their charter schools have met the State standards, (currently effective). The only money that is truly lost is that which is still going to the broken school system that does not meet the State standards and is not held accountable by the State.
And do you know how some municipal teachers respond when I give them the above information?
Now before there were charter schools, the only other real choice a parent had if they did not want to send their children to the municipal schools was paying to send them to a parochial school. And this was OK with the municipal schools. You see, when a child is enrolled into a parochial school in Cleveland, the student loses out on their per pupil amount of $5000+. It’s that pesky separation of church and state thing. So where does that $5000+ from the state go that would have normally followed those students? It is forfeited and the money goes into the CMSD general fund. The CMSD gets an extra $5000+ for each student that is enrolled in a parochial school in Cleveland, all thanks to the separation of church and state. Does it now sound like the CMSD is taking away money from the students who attend a parochial school? You bet. That is exactly what is happening.
You see, that argument of separation of church and state has flown out the window with the inception of “Vouchers” Vouchers are state funds given to a parochial school by the state to help parents with the cost of tuition. Yet for some reason, vouchers are OK. A parochial school in Cleveland that accepts vouchers will receive only a part of the $5000+ per pupil that would normally fund a student in a Cleveland municipal school. The balance will go into the CMSD general fund.
Unfortunately, there are only so many vouchers that are allowed, and only certain kinds of kids are allowed to receive vouchers.
And what are vouchers for? They are for poor folks who are tired of the failed municipal school district, but cannot afford to send their kids to the parochial school. So in this special instance, it is OK to overlook that pesky separation of church and state issue and allow it to happen. Everybody is happy, the poor get free money to send their kids to a parochial school, and the CMSD gets a nice cut of the balance of the per pupil state funds to put into their general fund.
Now tell me folks, is this right?
Because it’s happening in Cleveland, aka
Free Stamp City.
A charter school is in fact a public school. All are welcome. It is a public school which is not managed by the municipal school district, it is privately managed.
The school is funded in part by state monies. Currently the state provides $5000+ per student. The charter school does not receive funding from municipal property tax dollars like the municipal schools do.
In Cleveland, the metropolitan school district also receives funding from the state. The CMSD receives the same $5000+ per student that the charter schools receive from the state. In addition, the Cleveland municipal school district receives an additional $6000+. Some of this $6000+ comes from city school levies; which are monies raised from increases in property tax dollars that the voters can approve. Unfortunately, not all voters pay property taxes. And for other property owners, property taxes do not apply. They are exempted from paying property taxes by something called “tax abatement”. Cleveland’s sports facilities are some of the biggest beneficiaries of tax abatement. They are exempt from paying their share of property taxes which would directly help the schools.
Oh but we need those sports heroes. (The governor himself even came to Cleveland last year to lend his support when the huge LeBron James poster hanging on the side of a Cleveland building was threatened with removal. I invited Governor Strickland to visit my children's state rated effective charter school, but he has not responded. I guess he only makes visits to Cleveland for important issues like "King James".)
Check out these stories that show the importance of the sign situation:
LeBron’s more important - Link 1
LeBron’s more important - Link 2
LeBron’s more important - Link 3
LeBron’s more important - Link 4
LeBron’s more important - Link 5
LeBron’s more important - Link 6
The municipal schools and their administrations are upset that the charter schools have moved in. The charter schools by giving parents an actual choice on where their kids can go to school have in fact broken the monopoly of the municipal school. The most troubling thing to them about the charter schools is that unlike parochial schools, the charter schools are allowed to use the state funding.
The municipal school districts have been actively targeting the threat of the charter schools using many different arguments. The biggest argument is that the charter schools are taking away funding for their students. This is a convenient spin using their students as victims. Of course the argument is fallacious. To me, the argument has become old and worn out.
Another arguments is that charter schools are statistically far worse that the municipal schools. The arguer will show his data by showing the combined charter schools report card from the state against the combined municipal school report card from the state. When viewing these numbers, it does appear that the charter schools are doing terrible.
The one fact that is kept out of the argument is that not all municipalities across the state allow charter schools. The majority of charter schools only found in those cities where the municipal school systems have failed. The charter school offers another choice for parents who no longer wish to support their failing municipal school districts.
If you take all charter schools in Ohio and list them by zip code, and then compare them to the municipal school districts within those same zip codes, then the statistics become accurate. Now the argument is moot. You will even find in some cases, that it is the charter schools that are doing better than the municipal schools within the same municipality served.
From my blog, The Ohio Department of Education Numbers,
I show the ODE data between the Cleveland public schools and the charter schools within Cleveland. The charter schools are performing better according to the state data than the Cleveland public schools. And this is troubling to some of the teachers who post on the Cleveland.com education forum.
Now for the argument for funding; the argument that states charter schools are literally stealing away funds that would have gone to educate the municipal school kids. It is as if the Charter schools were not schools at all, but simply an entity; a thief who would blatantly steel and withhold monies from Cleveland’s kids.
But this is not the case. Charter schools are in fact just that; they are schools. And schools educate students.
The tired old argument that the charter schools are taking money away from the CMSD kids is nothing but baloney. I can use that same argument by stating that the
CMSD is taking money away from the charter school kids. The argument does work both ways.
The problem with this old argument is who the money actually belongs to. There is a misconception that the money belongs to the CMSD general fund. This implication could not be further from the truth.
The money going to charter schools comes from the school foundation formula. It is a “per pupil” amount. In essence, the money belongs to the student, and the student’s parents choose what school that money will support. The state pays the same per pupil amount to either a public or charter school for the students that are enrolled in the school district or charter school.
The premise that the public schools are losing money is inaccurate. The money is used to educate the children of Ohio. Charter school students are recipients of this money as well as the students of the CMSD. Since charter school students do not attend the CMSD nor do they do not receive any services from the Cleveland Schools, how can the charter schools be taking away monies from the CMSD?
There is no logical reason that the state monies allotted for charter school students education should go to a school system that they are not enrolled in, especially a failed system such as Cleveland. Considering that actual students are being educated at the charter schools with this state money, how can there be any money lost from the public schools?
Charter schools have broken the monopoly. Parents can now choose not to send their children to a failed municipal system and the municipal schools are not happy.
Let me put it another way using my three children as an example. In my children’s case, the Cleveland School system membership has actually decreased by three students because they are not enrolled there, and the Charter Schools have increased by three students. The state money does not belong to the CMSD general fund; the state money follows the student to the school they are enrolled in. It is the parent’s choice to enroll their children in a charter school. It follows reason that the Cleveland School system has not lost any money as they have three less students to serve and educate.
The State money used in my children’s charter school has been used properly and has not been wasted as their charter schools have met the State standards, (currently effective). The only money that is truly lost is that which is still going to the broken school system that does not meet the State standards and is not held accountable by the State.
And do you know how some municipal teachers respond when I give them the above information?
Now before there were charter schools, the only other real choice a parent had if they did not want to send their children to the municipal schools was paying to send them to a parochial school. And this was OK with the municipal schools. You see, when a child is enrolled into a parochial school in Cleveland, the student loses out on their per pupil amount of $5000+. It’s that pesky separation of church and state thing. So where does that $5000+ from the state go that would have normally followed those students? It is forfeited and the money goes into the CMSD general fund. The CMSD gets an extra $5000+ for each student that is enrolled in a parochial school in Cleveland, all thanks to the separation of church and state. Does it now sound like the CMSD is taking away money from the students who attend a parochial school? You bet. That is exactly what is happening.
You see, that argument of separation of church and state has flown out the window with the inception of “Vouchers” Vouchers are state funds given to a parochial school by the state to help parents with the cost of tuition. Yet for some reason, vouchers are OK. A parochial school in Cleveland that accepts vouchers will receive only a part of the $5000+ per pupil that would normally fund a student in a Cleveland municipal school. The balance will go into the CMSD general fund.
Unfortunately, there are only so many vouchers that are allowed, and only certain kinds of kids are allowed to receive vouchers.
And what are vouchers for? They are for poor folks who are tired of the failed municipal school district, but cannot afford to send their kids to the parochial school. So in this special instance, it is OK to overlook that pesky separation of church and state issue and allow it to happen. Everybody is happy, the poor get free money to send their kids to a parochial school, and the CMSD gets a nice cut of the balance of the per pupil state funds to put into their general fund.
Now tell me folks, is this right?
Because it’s happening in Cleveland, aka
Free Stamp City.
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