Why No Charter Schools

by Antoine Bogard
Chapter Leader, PS 197M

The following is my response to someone who asked me a question about my stand on Charter Schools below:

Hope this finds you well too. Public Education is the responsibility of the government. Those of us who work in the Public School System are government employees. Charter schools are private businesses based on profits. They are part of the corporate agenda to privatize public services, in this case, education. The big billionaire corporations and foundations such as Wal-Mart, Eli Broad Foundation, Bill Gates Foundation, believe the government has a monopoly on education. They see education as a big pie and they want a piece of the pie. They want a market share in the education budget.

The charter school concept is their way to get their share of the pie. They are investing in these charter schools just like they invest in everything else in the economy for future happy profitable returns. Likewise, lone entrepreneurs are also seeking a way to make a buck too. So, they create charter schools, as for instance, Eva Moskowitz of Harlem Success Academy, Seth Andrew of Democracy Prep or Geoffrey Canada of Harlem Promise Academy and Harlem Children Zone.

There are no DOE charter schools. They are private entities whether they are run by companies or by nonprofit organizations or unions such as the UFT. The government is outsourcing its responsibilities to the private sector, private organizations or individuals. Our schools should not be run by private individuals, groups or corporations.

The government has the responsibility to fix schools that need fixing. We want our schools to remain in the public domain. The government must be accountable to the public. For all these reasons, in addition to all the problems already coming out about charter schools, namely, corruption, lack of transparency in their finances, etc, they should be abolished totally.