EDUCATION - Charter Schools Push-Back

Alternate Post Title:  How Big-Money Buys Your Child's Education

"Are charter schools monopolizing public resources?" PBS NewsHour 4/24/2014

Excerpt

GWEN IFILL (NewsHour):  A little more than a decade ago, only about 300,000 students were enrolled in charter schools nationwide.

As their growth has soared, especially in cities, nearly 2 million students are now enrolled.  In New York City alone, attendance has jumped from 2,300 children a year to nearly 70,000.  But that expansion has created serious competition for limited public resources.

Special correspondent John Tulenko of Learning Matters reports.

PROTESTER:  Save our schools!  Save our schools!

JOHN TULENKO, Learning Matters:  In early March, thousands of charter school supporters rode buses for hours to come to Albany, New York’s state capital, to stop a school of theirs from being closed.

NARRATOR:  Mayor Bill de Blasio is taking away a public school.

JOHN TULENKO:  A $4 million dollar ad campaign drove the message home.

NARRATOR:  Don’t take away our children’s future.

JOHN TULENKO:  And it quickly became national news.

MAN:  The mayor of New York wants to shut down the highest-performing school?

WOMAN:  Correct.

MAN:  It’s disgusting.