Peter Greene writes here about a charter school in Ohio that closed mid-year. The decision was made, the school closed, at least one student didn’t get the news and showed up to find that her school was gone.
Occurrences like this send a message to Ohio parents about charter schools. They come and go. That may be a reason charter enrollment in charters is declining in Ohio.
Greene writes:
“One of the things that you get with a pubic school that you do not get with a charter schools is a promise, a long term commitment to stay in place and keep your doors open. Folks in the Mahoning Valley (near Youngstown, Ohio and Sharon, Pennsylvania) were reminded of that as yet another charter school closed its doors with the year well under way.”
The school was opened to help students in academic distress, but things were going badly. So the school closed.
“The stated reason was money. It no longer made business sense to keep MVOC open, and since charter schools are ultimately businesses, it is business-based decisions that rule the day. Not student based, not community based, and not education based. Charter schools are businesses, and businesses close when it suits them. Food trucks do not factor in how badly the community needs a place to eat– only whether they can profit by serving that community. One more reason that modern charters are a bad fit for education.”
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Reblogged this on David R. Taylor-Thoughts on Education and commented:
I think the extra coat of paint is starting to come off the “pretty new charter school” concept. People are starting to see the rust and damage underneath the paint.
We will begin to see more closing similar to this, eventually, the closing rate will accelerate.
I’m shocked, shocked I tell you! Years agao when this trend started picking up steam I asked “What will happen to students when their schools close mid-year?”
We seem to have more forethought when it comes to landfills and coal mining and many other human endeavors in which we require there to be plans in place (and often bonds to cover expenses) to cover the end game.
In charter schools … “kill them all, god will pick up the pieces” seems to be contingency plan.
Wow, a true and TELLING statement: “We seem to have more forethought when it comes to landfills and coal mining and many other human endeavors in which we require there to be plans in place (and often bonds to cover expenses) to cover the end game.”
“We seem to have more forethought when it comes to landfills and coal mining and many other human endeavors in which we require there to be plans in place (and often bonds to cover expenses) to cover the end game.”
How well you put this. And your comparison seals the deal: it’s not just about how little value Americans put on ed as opposed to industry. It’s about how, once public goods are privatized, publically-funded schools (or libraries or parks or museums) are measured by the same yardstick as industry, & rank as a low-profit small deals which do not justify the expense of end-game plans, bonds, etc.
In a concise, laser-like piece, Peter sums up so much of what is wrong with charter schools. He writes, “Did your charter school close? Well, the state of Ohio has empowered you to go solve the problem yourself. Congratulations.”
Yup. And, it’s the same throughout much of the U.S. economy these days. Average citizens are being “empowered” to solve all sorts of very complicated problems. On our own. Sure, there are plenty of “choices” -alleged solutions all over the place that we can try to find. There’s a veritable avalanche of possible choices, though who has the time to sort through these mountains of options? We have so many choices now that I wonder if the point is just to confuse us all….to make us numb and compliant. What’s that phrase, “the illusion of choice”?
The alleged “choices” you are supposed to make can be sublime and monstrous. Like, you’re sitting in a hospital emergency room at 2 a.m. with a family member who is really ill. And, some corporate insurance bean counter actually thinks you’re going to go out and shop around for the cheapest health care? “Choose your provider”. Yeah, right.
Then there are those many annoying, daily choices. Like, our washing machine just blew its main bearing and started smoking. Now I have to shop for a new one. So, do I buy the cheapo model that will last for, say, 5 years? Or, shell out big bucks for one that is quality? And, no, I do NOT need a washing machine that has a computer and will connect me to the “internet of things.” I just want to clean my clothes.
The amount of crap being shoveled down the throats of American consumers would be awe inspiring if it wasn’t making us so sick. I call it “The Rip-off Economy” ™ and we’re living smack dab in the middle of it right now.
Of course, the corporate profit imperative by nature knows few boundaries, as long as there are no bad public relations and the next quarter looks good. But 21st century technology has created an entirely new corporate beast. And, the voraciousness of its high speed appetite and its ability to gaze into our deepest needs and desires are developing so quickly that we can’t really focus on the phenomenon long enough to truly comprehend what’s happening. What seems clear, though, is that nothing is sacred. Our religions, our schools, our health, our children, the future of our planet.
So, they close the school, the factory, the town, the nation as we’ve known it all our lives. But, hey, there’s still plenty of things out there to buy. Just call right now. Order before midnight. “But Wait, There’s More!”