| Martha Cuneo wrote the following letter expressing her view point: Dear Friends,
You and I are in agreement so often that I hesitate to complain, but this is very important to me, and, I believe, to you.
I received a request from you for support (to Governor Granholm) for Charter Schools. I cannot do that. I don't know who told you that Charter Schools are a form of support for the Public Schools, but nothing could be further from the truth. Charter Schools take public money from the (meager) pie that is allocated to the Public Schools. They may use it in ways denied to the Public Schools (and should be denied to any school run with public monies), such as by excluding from eligibility for admission students who are, for whatever reason, too much trouble or expense. They do not have to take special needs kids (the most expensive kids, and the ones most in need); they do not have to keep anyone who is a behavior problem or who cannot perform academically or for any other reason, nor do they have to provide any services to these kids or their families. These functions return, where they belong, to the public schools, minus the money needed to help these kids.
They most often do not allow unions and there is no compulsion for them to do so. This means that teachers have no protection inside these little fiefdoms against unfair treatment of any kind. It means that they can pay whatever they choose, and this is, I believe, always or nearly always, inferior to pay in the public schools. They are free to offer fewer fringe benefits, and their professionals are hired 'at will,' and may be fired with or without cause.
Parents are pestered to do fund-raising. Of course, this only works with populations that have discretionary time and money, which pretty much leaves out the Charter School kids in the cities of Detroit, Pontiac, Flint and other centers of residency for the very poor.
In far too many cases, Charter Schools are the creature of for-profit companies. This means that any money not spent on the kids becomes profit. This repeats the scenario in the Mental Health world in Michigan in which there are virtually NO treatment beds for the mentally ill. This means that the mentally ill who cannot maintain themselves independently are relegated to "Group Homes." These are usually small groups, in normal housing, and the fantasy is that this puts these folks 'in the community,' in 'normal' living circumstances. These 'Group Homes" are owned and operated by non-profit corporations (as are some of the Charter Schools). Again, the less that is spent on the service population, the more the corporation can keep, and if you think that substantial sums of money do not find their way into the use of individuals, you are wrong. In both of these systems, a cruel hoax is perpetrated against helpless people.
All of which is to say, that these examples of relegating government functions to private groups are crimes against humanity.
I think that you need more information about with whom you are dealing with regard to Charter Schools. Every day that they exist, they siphon money from the public coffers which should go to kids, they delay the time when we get it right with regard to the Public Schools. They ARE NOT an answer to anything except the prayers of predatory forces, which steal from the kids, and which delay the addressing of the real problems in the Public Schools.
Respectfully,
Martha Cuneo
Responses follow Great Letter Martha. I agree with you well thought out and logical. Thanks for your wise efforts. Delphine
Martha, Your letter is supurb. You have crisply marshalled every single reason not to support charter schools. America's universal public education has been - until very recently - the most effective route to social and economic mobility. Barbara
I do wish that your words could be nationally publicized. Too many have the false notion that Charter Schools are better education facilities than public schools. So little do they know or maybe they just don't want to know - they just want to be led by the nose. Dorothy
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