A reader sent a blog post from Arizona, where the Great Hearts charter school chain is based.
This is the charter that Tennessee Commissioner Kevin Huffman wants to bring to Nashville, over the opposition of the local school board.
It is expensive to go to Great Hearts. The school asks parents for an upfront contribution (voluntary, of course), of $1200-1500. Then there are extra costs for books, supplies, physical education.
But it is still less costly than paying for private school tuition. So it is entirely understandable that white, affluent parents would want to bring Great Hearts to their neighborhood in Nashville.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Vanity–and gullibility–ain’t cheap.
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So much for FAPE… I live in West Nashville and I was looking at the tuition amounts for two private coed schools in the area. Harding Academy (a K-8 school) is $15-16K per year depending on grade. Ensworth (a K-12 school) is between $19-24K per year; tuition varies by grade, with high school being the most. So the amount for Great Hearts is significantly less indeed. Many of the parents in West Nashville may not make enough to afford the schools I mentioned, but may be able to pay the amount for Great Hearts (I would fall into that category). Nonetheless, I don’t want my property tax going to a privateer in order to subsidize it.
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Can’t find your email address but though you might be interested in this report on National Radio in New Zealand
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Charter schools – the arguments for and against
from Morning Report on Tuesday 25 September 2012
An american educationalist says Christchurch will be left in chaos if the Government gives the go-ahead to charter schools in the city. Karran Harper Royal, a founding member of the Parents Across America group, says the experiences of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina show what can go wrong if charter schools are built. She debates with Mike Feinberg, the co-founder of the Knowledge is Power Program, a network of 125 high-performing US charter schools.
http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2533567/charter-schools-the-arguments-for-and-against
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You can play the report at the link. I only heard the end of it but it sounded like Karran Royal got a fair share of airtime in the discussion.
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Are there no Catholic schools left there?
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Seems like the same strategies, just different names for them here in Texas. We really need to get educated about what is getting ready to happen here.
http://www.dallasnews.com/news/state/headlines/20120923-conservatives-push-to-let-school-districts-opt-out-of-state-education-regulations.ece
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More from Texas: is this just a wolf in sheep’s clothing or politicians listening to a grass roots effort to really move away from testing?
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/script-is-out-there-for-giving-texas-schools-more-autonomy.html/
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Located in Scottsdale, Arizona, the Great Hearts school represents the local demographics: affluent whites. It’s obviously a private school run on the public dime, a gated community within a city of gated communities.
On a mass scale, I think the next likely beachheads for charter school colonization are the constellations of older, inner-ring suburbs that are becoming rapidly poorer and beset with the problems traditionally associated with inner city neighborhoods.
Poverty is migrating to the suburbs, especially on the outskirts of gentrifying cities like New York – think towns like Hempstead and Mount Vernon – and charter entrepreneurs will follow, to further drain resources from the public schools.
http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Articles/2011/12/27/Americas-Best-Kept-Secret-Rising-Suburban-Poverty.aspx#page1
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Private school on public dime–exactly. Which is why they should not be allowed to exist at the taxpayers’ expense.
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So where are the lawsuits to shut these scams down? A FAPE is a RIGHT, not a privilege. Education is not something for somebody to make a profit from.
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Diane, I might post this here and should not but, I am not sure if you have seen this sit down interview with venture capitalist Bruce Rauner and Jessie Sharkey, VP CTU. The nasty tone of Rauner is disgusting. http://nepc.colorado.edu/blog/stuff-white-people-education-reform
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Scarey, isn’t he. He’ll tear the schools apart until they start to perform, by God! I wonder what he thinks will happen to the kids ?
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I’m assuming the public schools in Nashville that the would-be Great Hearts students attend are good schools, right? (Any readers in Nashville please correct me if I’m mistaken). If so, rather than creating a publicly-funded private school, why don’t these parents take the $1,200+ they’d be giving to Great Hearts and donate it to the public school their children are attending in order to expand or bolster programs? Is it simply a matter of an appearance of prestige that’s the motivation here? What am I missing?
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Diane…see this comment on a Pelto post and read about the waste and teachers are the problem? This is criminal…..and this “reformer” gets more districts to destroy.
http://jonathanpelto.com/2012/09/24/the-price-of-paul-vallas-no-bid-contracts-continues-to-grow/
Hartford has always done a great job of being wasteful like this. One program after another is tried and discarded. Math, reading, and writing programs come and go every few years. Money is spent on training teachers and purchasing materials. Peter Dart came into Kennelly School and rented a dumpster to throw out a brand new reading program. Tech Ed classes were eliminated at Bulkeley High School during the Adamowski reign of terror. So all of the sewing machines, stoves, refrigerators, saws, drills, etc were given away; moved to the hallway for people to help themselves. Out in the auto shop the state of the art equipment was sold at a loss. Then, two years ago Oscar Padua hires some parents (husband and wife) to clean up the shop and paint it. (Not sure what the custodians union would say about that.) Then he spends approx. 100 grand on brand new equipment – auto lifts, spray painting stuff, etc. To this day the new shop is a mystery. Classes are not taught out there. There is no auto academy on the choice application. Since there are no electives like cooking, sewing, and auto shop students take geometry or algebra or physical science over and over even after passing it and earning credit. Some students have 2 1/2 credits in the same course.
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Wow!! Total insanity what you just described.
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Dufresne:
I live in Nashville. My kids were fortunate enough to attend an academic magnet (we have two that rank in the top 50 high schools nationally. Unfortunately, the high school that kids in the part of town where Great Hearts wanted to locate are zoned for a high school that is below mediocre (and I’m probably being generous). I appreciate their dilemma and their desire for something better. That said, I agree with Joe. I don’t want to subsidize a for-profit charter whose pricing (what they call a contribution) will make it impossible for low-income kids in other parts of town, who have even fewer options, to attend the school.
To the question raised by Alan, there are two Catholic high schools in the Nashville area (3 if you count one that’s for girls only). All cost at least $10,000 per year, or they did as of 10 years ago; I’m sure it’s probably closer to $15k now. Some of the parochial schools that go K-8 aren’t as pricey, but neither are they cheap.
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Randy: What would you suggest the parents who are zoned into this “below mediocre” school do for their children? I suppose if they can not pay for the private schools, the only option is to try to move to the zone with a better school, but do you think that is a reasonable option for the families?
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TE,
Allow me to answer if I may. Moving is not a viable option. Perhaps the parents should get more involved in their children’s education. And, yes, I understand that getting involved is time consuming, not easy, etc. . . .
The other question being what is a “mediocre” school vs a “top” school. Although perception matters somewhat, these school rankings are pure bovine excrement with no basis in logical/rational reality. What is being done in the supposed top school that is not being done in the “mediocre” on that might make it “better”. Again, isn’t it partially the parents’ responsibility to ensure that the local public school is doing what it should be doing? Parents, get involved make a difference in your child’s education. Be a pain in the ass parent.
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Duane
If there is truly no difference between a “mediocre school” and a “top school”, the school boards are already doing what should be done so there is no need for parental involvement on that front.
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Update on Parent Trigger in Nashville. It is really insulting that the “good” teacher in the film is a former TFA. We know what message they are sending with that.
http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/parent-trigger-story-can-happen-nashville-promoter-says-film-screening
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I think you all are getting stuck/lost on the contribution portion. What you fail to realize is that it is not mandatory. You CAN say no or that you can’t afford it. They do have locations in poor neighborhoods(Teleos in downtown Phoenix). They consistantly out perform the public schools and they are open to all whether you contribute or not.
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