Protestors voice concerns with charter schools
People gathered outside James Irwin Charter Elementary school to protest Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos who visited the school Wednesday morning.
Many of them voiced concerns about the growing number of charter schools nationwide.
“It started out with good intentions but it’s morphed into something that is untenable,” said Carolyn Bedingfield regarding the origins of charter school contracts in 1991.
Both charter and public school are funded by taxpayer money. However, charter schools are run by organizations and institutions whereas local governments run public schools.
U.S. lawmakers in Minnesota began charter contracts to give these institution-run schools greater autonomy, allowing for exemptions from regulations that are imposed on public schools. However, a limited number of requirements are able to be waved, and many must be applied for in a thorough process.
One of these exemptions in the state of Colorado is the ability to hire teachers who are not licensed educators.
Chris Christoff, who teaches kindergarten and first grade in a public school, said it’s problematic.
“I know a lot of people who have come straight out of college without a teacher’s license, taught for a few months, and then had to quit because they didn’t know how to teach,” Christoff said. “It really is extremely harmful for kids.”
And while a license is not required to teach children effectively or to understand them, the protestors said proper training provides children with a better education.
Bedingfield, whose grandchildren attend Monument Charter Academy, said the exemptions of charter schools don’t always favor the children attending them.
“Each child is not getting the same level of funding that a child would at a neighborhood public school,” she said.
Whether you decide to enroll in a public or charter school, the Colorado Department of Education advises parents to sit in on a classroom and evaluate whether the teacher and environment will meet the child’s needs.
