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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Orange charter high schools defend reputation: Aloma, Chancery and Sheeler high schools expect "F" grades - Orlando Sentinel

Orange charter high schools defend reputation: Aloma, Chancery and Sheeler high schools expect "F" grades - Orlando Sentinel:


Orange charter high schools defend reputation against pending F grades

Aloma, Chancery and Sheeler high schools say they excel at helping dropouts and deserve to expand

  • Teacher Jimmy Waldron helps Schamma Jean, 18, with an economics lesson recently at Chancery, one of three charter high schools in Orange County that have been performing poorly on traditional measures.
Teacher Jimmy Waldron helps Schamma Jean, 18, with an economics… (George Skene, Orlando Sentinel)
December 17, 2011|By Lauren Roth, Orlando Sentinel
When state grades came out for elementary and middle schools in July, charter schools were responsible for an outsized share of the F's. And when high-school grades are released in coming days, three Orange County charters, all run by the same company, are poised to continue that trend.
Aloma, Chancery and Sheeler high schools, which work with students who are years behind in school or have dropped out, all expect to earn F grades. But citing the schools' unique mission, the county School Board last week granted a fourth charter to the same management 

Charter schools, virtual education bad for children

Letters to the Editor, Dec. 18

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In the Dec. 2 Herald there was an article, “School choice hot topic” and Verdya Bradley made the comment, “Choice is about quality.”
I am presuming that Ms. Bradley was referring to charter schools. Recent studies have indicated that the majority of charter schools are not doing as well as regular public schools. Many are failing and, in the process, taking away funding from public schools. Ms. Bradley also referred to virtual education as a positive factor for education.
So-called reform advocates are using the rhetoric “children first.” Behind this scheme are current investment groups that realize there are billions to be made by promoting charter schools for profit.
Jonathan Hage, CEO of Charter Schools USA, is urging investors from Wall Street to support candidates for the 2012 election to promote more charter schools and virtual education.
Not only is this not practical but actually insane. Can anyone imagine young children staying at home all


Read more: http://www.bradenton.com/2011/12/18/3734132/charter-schools-virtual-education.html#ixzz1gtbnD9Js


Charter schools push deserves failing grade


State Sen. Phil Pavlov, chairman of the Senate Education Committee, and Rep. Tom McMillin, chairman of the House Education Committee, both have the obligation of looking for ways to improve the learning environment for Michigan students. They and the majority of the Republican legislators are pushing real hard to remove caps on the number of charter schools in our state as a solution.
The problem is that research doesn't show charter schools are educating students any better than public schools. So, how will having more of them solve anything?
If these Republican legislators really wanted to make a difference in education, why aren't they becoming more educated about