INC NEWS - Kestrel Elementary -- the only choice on the table in S. Durham for now...

[Melissa Rooney]

Interesting points, Randy.

If the BOCC would actually get going on expanding the
elementary school for which my neck of the woods is
districted (my kids go to overcrowded Creekside), then
I'd agree with you. They'd probably need to build
another school as well, with all the development going
on down here (specifically for 'single FAMILY homes').


So in lieu of this, the expansion of Kestrel seems
pretty logical (and necessary) to me.

Melissa
 
--- RW Pickle <randy at 27beverly.com> wrote:

> I don't think it is correct to say taxpayers do not
> have to pay for
> buildings for charter schools. By virtue of paying
> taxes for education (of
> which all of us do regardless of children or not),
> we're funding these
> charter schools with the educational dollars that
> are sent to them
> (instead of the regular public school system). I
> don't have a choice in
> saying that my taxes should be used for charter or
> public, those are the
> dollars that follow the kids; regardless if it's
> public or charter. And I
> assume, the same goes for private schools. I assume
> the same dollars
> travel with those kids as well (but gets augmented
> by additional funds by
> the parents or scholarships). Education is a
> business. It has to have
> funding. Tax dollars make primary and secondary
> education free (of sorts)
> to all. If these charter schools continue to
> proliferate, what will our
> current public school system do? It seems like one
> hurts the other instead
> of complementing it (when it comes to funding; even
> resources such as
> teachers must be a competition).  And lets say
> charter schools hit some
> hard times (like the landlord goes out of business
> and the school is
> foreclosed on). How can we expect the public school
> system to absorb all
> these kids on such short notice? It just wouldn't be
> possible. Or why
> would I expect local government to step in and buy a
> building that was
> once a school because a charter school went under
> and the kids have no
> school to go to now? That's why it seems to me like
> there needs to be some
> stability in planning. As it is now, no one seems to
> know from
> year-to-year if the kids will be in charter or
> public schools. Apparently
> they can switch at will. This just adds instability
> to any long-range
> planning it would seem.
> 
> Here's a similar example; the Parkwood Volunteer
> Fire Department. It now
> operates within City boundaries, yet is not a City
> service. So when they
> went to Council this year for funding and were
> denied (at first), this set
> off an alarm in the community. Here was a fire
> service in jeopardy of
> shutting down. And who was going to have to pick up
> the tab? The
> taxpayers. I just don't want to see our educational
> system become a
> privatized entity only to have it fall back in our
> laps one day and bite
> us. It's hard to say one way or the other if that
> day will ever come. But
> I do recall a number of charter schools closing in
> the past couple of
> years. But public schools can't just up and close.
> Just like they can't
> just up and double their size. All of this takes
> planning. Something that
> I can't see how having charter schools as part of
> the equation figures in.
> Like I said, it's a business. And without funding,
> it will cease to exist.
> Then what do we do? It can't be an overnight fix
> like trailers that will
> solve it. It may start off that way, but planning on
> the future of our
> schools in the community (and for the community)
> needs to be a stable
> thought process (or so it would seem to me).
> 
> RWP
> 27 Beverly
> 
> 
> 
> > Unlike Private Schools, because Charter schools
> > receive money from the state, Kestrel Heights does
> not
> > charge any tuition. Since they do not get Durham
> > money, building the school did/does not cost
> Durham
> > taxpayers.
> >
> > I'm not sure exactly how the financing for
> Kestrel's
> > building is structured, but I do know they are
> > associated with a group called Imagine Schools. I
> > believe Imagine actually funded the building of
> the
> > school and then  Kestrel "leases" the building
> back
> > from Imagine, as a lease is an operating expense
> that
> > is permitted from the per pupil allocation. There
> > may be some other administrative services that
> Imagine
> > provides too. This is not an uncommon financing
> > structure for a charter school as facilities
> > are one of the largest challenges charter schools
> > face.  I'm sure I could find out more if that info
> is
> > needed.
> >
> > Now I believe Imagine is a "for profit" company
> and
> > some people are horrified by that.  However the
> school
> > is not "for profit" and is dedicated to providing
> a
> > great education to kids.  It's really no different
> > than DPS outsourcing some of the services it needs
> to
> > companies that are "for profit":  If you think of
> it,
> > DPS pays interest on the bonds they use to finance
> > schools and the holders of the bonds make a profit
> on
> > the loan of their money.  Same thing really
> happens
> > between Kestrel and Imagine -- its just on the
> school
> > level instead of being lost in the government
> cloud.
> >
> > In any case, one of the key controls with charters
> is
> > that parents vote with their feet -- if the
> charter
> > school isn't providing a good education that meets
> a
> > child's needs then parents will withdraw kids and
> the
> > school will close.
> >
> > Because charter schools do need to pay facilities
> > costs out of their operating allocation, they
> > generally have to run pretty efficiently. For
> instance
> > Kestrel doesn't have a cafeteria and the kids eat
> > either in classrooms or outside when it is nice.
> > They do cater in a hot lunch for those that want
> it
> > but not having to dedicate space to a cafeteria
> > reduces costs.  I actually find not having a
> cafeteria
> > to be an advantage as the
> > cafeterias in most schools are too small forcing
> kids
> > to eat in shifts with some kids having either
> > outrageously early or late lunchtimes (my KG
> daughter
> > eats lunch at 10:40 AM).
> >
> > I could see how DPS might have a burr under their
> > saddle over charter schools because it drains
> money
> > from their coffers, but I think the competition is
> > good for them and might serve to make the school
> > system strive to be better. More importantly, our
> > schools are currently overcrowded and charter
> schools
> > are an option that help accommodate the increasing
> > student demand without taxpayers having to pay for
> the
> > buildings.
> >
> > Cheers,
> > Melissa
> >
> >
> >
> > --- RW Pickle <randy at 27beverly.com> wrote:
> >
> >> Is there anyone on this list that tell us the
> >> difference between these?
> >> Such as State educational requirements, per pupil
> >> funding provided by the
> >> State (to charter school children), and how it is
> >> possible for charter
> >> schools to build buildings without charging more
> for
> >> children (or that
> >> they do; like private schools do). Maybe even the
> >> difference between
> >> charter, private, and public. I guess kids who
> >> attend private schools also
> >> get the State funding sent to that school.
> 
=== message truncated ===



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