Last week, John Oliver ripped into charter schools on HBO show Last Week Tonight, and Ohio’s underperforming schools were a focal point for that segment.
A few weeks prior to that, online Ohio charter school ECOT made the news for struggling through an audit with the Ohio Department of Education, which is bringing to light that many students may not be getting the proper instruction time that the school promises.
A few weeks prior to that, a new report from KnowYourCharter.com unveiled that many charter programs in Central Ohio are underperforming with 56 out of 75 receiving either a D or F score from the Ohio Department of Education.
As expected, this ongoing flow of bad news about charters schools has resulted in many negative comments directed at Ohio charter schools in general.
“They all should be shut down and give the [money] back to the school districts that actually teach kids,” said one Facebook commenter in response to a recent CU article.
“Charter schools need shut down,” chimed another commenter on Facebook. “Do not allow the powers that be continue to tell teachers that they are the problem.”
The overarching negativity directed at charter schools has become more and more of a recurrence for a system that was deemed by many to be the surefire failsafe for struggling public school districts in large cities. As Oliver pointed out in his Last Week Tonight piece, charter school support is one of the few things that many Republican and Democratic politicians can agree on in a bipartisan manner.
Of course, the recent negative sentiment isn’t exactly a fair overall assessment. There are quite a few charters that perform well, which are getting lumped in with the failing charter schools as the backlash rolls in.
Both ironically and unfortunately, this negative perception is what has plagued public districts like Columbus City Schools for decades. Charter schools can credit at least part of their rise in popularity and prominence to a similar general public sentiment that all Columbus City Schools are terrible. In reality though, there are both high performing public schools and underperforming public schools within the larger district.
“As a whole, charter schools need significant reform, but there are some really good alternatives in that mix,” stated one Facebook commenter last week.
If there’s any lesson to be learned from the ongoing educational news coverage, it’s one that is obvious yet bears repeating: “Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater.” Parents want what is best for their children, whether they attend a public school, private school, charter school or home schooling. Barking out blanket statements about broader systems discredits the hard work of principals, teachers, faculty and volunteers at the individual school level, which hinders schools that are performing well and holds down the schools that are struggling.
Instead of simply airing grievances on Facebook or Twitter, locals should be getting more involved in improving both our charter and public school systems. Volunteer at your neighborhood school, whether you have children that attend there or not. Donate supplies to your neighborhood school if you have the means to shop for a couple of extra purchases. Sign up to be a reading buddy or tutor and help make a difference in the lives of individual students that need help.
At the end of the day, we’re talking about providing a higher level of education for the future of our city, state and country. Let’s teach those kids that actions speak louder than blanket statements of negativity.