Charters School vs regular Public school-Alpharetta (Roswell: low income, elementary school, income)

[neda1012]

Dear All,
I have a child in elementary school. Since private school is very expensive, I'm thinking of chosing a charters school. I don't know anything about Charters school and in general how better they are compare with regular schools.
Our current elementary school is an OK one. We love the teachers ( very loving) but to me for the kids who are not in tag program, the practice sheets are too easy and they can use this kid's brain much better.
Do you know a good charters school in Fulton county- Roswell area?
Any comment?

tnx

[TakeAhike]

Originally Posted by neda1012

Dear All,
I have a child in elementary school. Since private school is very expensive, I'm thinking of chosing a charters school. I don't know anything about Charters school and in general how better they are compare with regular schools.
Our current elementary school is an OK one. We love the teachers ( very loving) but to me for the kids who are not in tag program, the practice sheets are too easy and they can use this kid's brain much better.
Do you know a good charters school in Fulton county- Roswell area?
Any comment?

tnx

There may be some fyi in this thread>>>
https://www.city-data.com/forum/atlan...ol-system.html

Do you currently reside in the Roswell area?

From the posted link>>>
How will it be decided which students go where? Will there be lotteries for attendance/enrollment? Will transportation still be provided if out of your attendance zone?
The Charter System legislation in no way requires additional school choice or the absence of attendance zones. Students can still be geographically assigned to a “home” school with transportation provided only to that school. The input from the community in the Charter System Forums will be evaluated to determine if there is greater demand for school choice than what current Fulton County Schools policy allows. The Board of Education has been clear that any innovations requiring additional costs will be evaluated very cautiously. Transportation of students beyond a geographically assigned attendance zone would an innovation with substantial costs associated.

[lastminutemom]

There is a charter school -- Sunshine Academy.

Welcome to FSA Elementary School

Simply because a school is a charter school, it doesn't mean it is a better option.

In fact almost all research is showing that for children in families that are middle class or better, the academic results are no better (and in a few studies, actually worse) than traditional public schools.

(And I write this as someone who is very pro school choice and a big supporter of charter schools.)

[flyonpa]

Have you talk'ed to her teacher about giving her additional/different worksheets?

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

...In fact almost all research is showing that for children in families that are middle class or better, the academic results are no better (and in a few studies, actually worse) than traditional public schools.

For families lower than middle class as well. In fact, 83% of charters schools are shown to perform worse or equal to equilavent/corresponding traditional public schools (which means comparing equilavent populations in either school).

[lastminutemom]

Actually, when students in charter schools are compared only to their peers in schools in their own states, the data is more promising for low income students.

One of the flaws of some of the research on charter schools is that it lumps all the schools across the country together. Since there aren't currently national standards and national assessments, this is fairly flawed.

When charter schools are compared to traditional schools in the same state, low income students seem to do better.

[aries4118]

Originally Posted by lastminutemom

Actually, when students in charter schools are compared only to their peers in schools in their own states, the data is more promising for low income students.

One of the flaws of some of the research on charter schools is that it lumps all the schools across the country together. Since there aren't currently national standards and national assessments, this is fairly flawed.

When charter schools are compared to traditional schools in the same state, low income students seem to do better.

But, lets hope that those "within state" comparisons are true comparisons--

Since charter schools do not take all--and the traditional public schools they are compared will have population sub-groups that are not in most charter schools.

The devil is in the details--it all depends on how small/individualized the comparison really is.


Moreover, looking at this on a macro level and considering the inherent selectivity of charter schools--charters schools really should be outperforming traditional public schools when comparing similar populations (parental motivation, expectations, etc--major factors even when socio-economic status is equal on paper).

The fact that national studies show that a super-majority of charters schools perform worse or equal to traditional public schools and some "within-state" comparisons show only some marginal improvement for low-income students is actually very revealing about the myth of charter schools.