Inequality In Charter Schools

significant indicator of the charter movements successes. “Parents want choice in education, and the overwhelming majority of parents who choose charter schools are happy with that choice.” (Richwine, 3) Even though these schools generally have the smaller class sizes and other things that families believe is important to them, Richwine found that the reading and math test scores did not rise as a result of attending these schools. This means, that most charter schools, in addition to public schools, are “failing” their students. Richwine posited that “test scores are notoriously hard to raise through intervention” and that traditional methods of doing so in public schools has failed. I do not agree with Richwine that lowering class sizes and increasing teacher training in public schools would not help increases student achievement. I agree more with Ravitch’s assertion that charter schools will work only “if the profit motive were removed, and if the concept were redesigned to meet the needs of the communities served rather than the plans of entrepreneurs.” (Ravitch, 5) I believe that some charters do in fact do what they were meant to do. However, Charters on the whole are being used as means to defund public schools and I fundamentally believe that that is wrong. Using charters as some sort of panacea for failing schools may not be the answer that those most effected by theses changes need. Another important competent of charter schools that I have not specifically mentioned is that their teachers are not usually a part of teachers unions. This allows school personal to fire teachers one a whim. Students are also not fully protected in these schools. Under certain guidelines, charter schools can kick their students out and not welcome their return where public schools are not legally able to do that. It has been noted that a lot of charters kick the worst performing students out of their schools so that they do not ruin the schools test averages. As charter schools are allowed to continue to increases while public schools are closing, where will the students who need the most help go and what will they be able to do? I believe that charters have been allowed to take hold in the ways that they have because this is what those in power want to happen. This market approach that looks at families as consumers and schools as a market will eventually dilute why we supposedly had public schools in the first place: to ensure that everyone had a world class education. It sounds good to say that we want to solve educational equality, but unfortunately there are too many incentives to maintain the system, and by extension the privilege, that results from having schools …show more content…
It’s clear that we live in a period characterized by our constant use of advanced technologies that allow us to, for the first time ever, connect with people all over the world. As we move deeper into this Information Age, relying more on technology to advance our work and play, those who can not use the technology, or readily have access to it, will be left to fend for themselves. This phenomenon, generally referred to as the digital divide, will be used to explain a lot of the inequality that will undoubtedly occur in the future as technology continues to be more necessary to sustain any sort of modicum form of …show more content…
Devices such as Apple’s iPhone or the many devices that use Google’s Android operating system, have gone a long way in offering users, especially people of color, with the opportunity to connect online for significantly less costs. If the internet and access to and knowledge of other advance technologies continues to be looked at as a luxury that only those who can afford it can utilize, a significant portion of American citizens will be left further behind resulting in increased rates of income inequality and subsequent educational inequality. Without adequately investing to insure that everyone has access to and knowledge oft the technologies that will catapult the worlds economies forward, minorities and anyone else not connected will be left behind without anyway of becoming upwardly mobile. If this issues is adequately addressed, all citizens would have the skills that would allow them to be competitive in the labor market and in life. At that point, regardless of race or class, anyone would be able to