990WBOB
  • WBOB Radio
  • Past Casts
  • F Bomb Friday
  • Weather
  • Contact
  • About
    • WBOB Press Releases
    • Join Our Team!
    • CHARITY GALA

Charter schools are the solution, not the problem, to RI education woes

4/11/2021

Comments

 
Picture
Mark Colley

For a crumbling Providence school system, charter schools are part of the solution, and Dan McKee’s plans to veto a pause on charter school expansion rightfully reflects that.

It’s been nearly two years since researchers at Johns Hopkins Institute for Education Policy detailed how Providence is one of the worst school systems in the country.

That report shocked many. It showed 90 percent of students in the district were not proficient in math, and 80 percent were not proficient in English. Students were “completely disconnected from the environment around them,” with nearly all school buildings in disrepair. At one, the floors were crumbling and the water was brown.
While the state took control of the district in 2019 and released a plan to make the schools among the top 25 percent in the state, there’s an easy band-aid for the state: charter schools.

Charter schools are not the perfect solution, and they have their fair share of problems. They don’t solve some of the fundamental issues with Rhode Island’s education system, and are more of a band-aid than a fix for the problems.

But even as a band-aid, charter schools help fix some of the problems with Providence’s education system. That’s why McKee’s plan to veto the bill that would pause the creation of charter schools in Rhode Island for three years is appropriate.

On the aggregate, charter schools serve disadvantaged students. Fifteen percent of students who attend traditional public schools are Black, compared to 27 percent in charter schools. A similar but smaller skew exists for Latino students as well.

Charter schools also serve five percent more students from low-income households than traditional public schools. Fifty-seven percent of charter schools are located in cities, compared to only 25 percent of traditional public schools.

While charter schools tend to serve more students in low-income households, along with Black and Latino households, a 2015 Stanford study showed they also achieve significantly higher student success in math and reading than traditional public schools in urban areas.

All this goes to show that charter schools are better equipped to serve low-income, disadvantaged students than traditional public schools. As a partial solution to Providence’s education problems, charter schools can be effective.

The intent of the three-year is to “reexamine [the state’s] funding formula to ensure that students in traditional public schools aren’t left behind,” said state senator Maryellen Goodwin, who has advocated for the bill, to the Brown Daily Herald.

Goodwin argued that the current system drains “tens of millions of dollars from our traditional public schools to disproportionately support those in charters.” But when the state is failing to provide quality education through traditional public schools, alternative solutions are needed

While Goodwin recognizes the good charter schools can do, such a pause would only hurt disadvantaged students. Why stop a system that works better than traditional public schools?

​

More 990WBOB

  • WATCH: Two Doomed Men Ep 60 Georgia
  • ​The Cast of The Sandlot Announce Limited Edition Digital Baseball Cards
  • Just Down The Rhode: Major League Disapointment
  • ​Undercover Blues: Ladies Sing The Blues

Comments

    WBOB
    Original
    ​Reads

    Picture

    Unbiased, Unfiltered. WBOB's Original Reads feature our brightest and boldest personalities, offering their two-cents on the goings on of news, sports, politics, entertainment, and business. -- Are our opinions always PC? Nope. Are they always perfect? Nah. But, are they always 100% authentic? Absolutely!


    LISTEN
    ​TO WBOB ORIGINAL PODCASTS

    Picture
    Listen to
    ​Past BOBCasts

    WBOB 
    Best Reads
    Brought To You By
    TripAdvisor.com

    Picture

    Celebrating David Clyde: A Wild Passionate Friend To All


    Picture

    Search 
    The Archives


    Reads From Our Friends

    Picture

    The Best Game Development Tools: How to Make Your Own Game


    Contact Us
    info@990WBOB.com


Search For Your Favorite WBOB Author,
​or BobCast

990WBOB 
An Independent Media Outlet.

The views opinions and thoughts expressed do not  reflect those of 990WBOB, its management or its staff. All Rights Reserved 990WBOB.com 2007-2020
​
Contact WBOB HERE

WBOB Reads

Weather

Live BOBCasts

Past Casts

Contact Us

Join Our Team!

Featured Supporters

Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Photo used under Creative Commons from nzhamstar
  • WBOB Radio
  • Past Casts
  • F Bomb Friday
  • Weather
  • Contact
  • About
    • WBOB Press Releases
    • Join Our Team!
    • CHARITY GALA