Posted on 09/10/2012 4:01:30 PM PDT by grundle
Leslie Daniels enrolled her son in a Chicago charter school three years ago because she didn't like the education he was getting in his local neighborhood school.
In the back of her mind, she also knew the school was less likely to be affected by labor problems because its teachers are not members of the Chicago Teachers Union. That's an added benefit now that the union has called for its first walkout in 25 years. All of the city's charter schools will remain open Monday.
"I'm glad I made the switch," said Daniels, 55. "I feel for the other parents because a lot of them are working. What are their children going to be doing?"
Charter schools, which are independently run but largely rely on public funding, have been growing steadily in Chicago over the last decade. Former Mayor Richard M. Daley pushed a major expansion of charter schools in the mid-2000s, promoting them as options for parents frustrated by low-performing public schools in their neighborhood.
As a result, the city's charter enrollment has nearly doubled in the last five years, reaching about 52,000 students this fall, according to Chicago Public Schools figures. Mayor Rahm Emanuel, like his predecessor, wants to see charter options expand even further, and there are plans for 60 more charter schools in Chicago over the next five years.
The Chicago Teachers Union has fought the growth of charter schools because the majority of teaching staffs are not members of unions and none belong to CTU. Union leaders argue that charters devalue the profession by paying their teachers less, and that public money is diverted from struggling neighborhood schools to support charters, even when charters don't perform significantly better.
(Excerpt) Read more at articles.chicagotribune.com ...
One of the paragraphs in the story contained comments from a grandmother who supported paying public school teachers more but is glad her grandchildren are in charter schools.
Made me shake my head.
Are the chartered Schools in Chicago GUN FREE?? I wonder what the students think of while the others are on VACATION (really in Chicago they are going on a CRIME SPREE).
Pathological elitism.
BTW, you, me, all descendants are the public school riff-raff they want their kids to avoid.
Oh, and minority underclass.
Thanks grundle.
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