Failing Pennsylvania Charter Schools - Answering Tough Questions

Pennsylvania charter schools have given hope to parents, single parents, grandparents, foster care parents, and guardians. Caretakers can choose to send children to the local district public school or to public charter school. If you have children enrolled in a charter school, you are familiar with how they operate. This article challenges you to look deeper into your charter school. You need to begin asking questions that will provide greater insight into how your charter school is receiving and spending money for each child it educates.

Charter school parents have a firm grasp on the basics. You already know that there could be a waiting list and lottery. Also, your child's teacher may not be a Pennsylvania certified teacher but you're OK with it because the Pennsylvania charter school law allows it. People misinformed about charter schools may find it difficult to understand. They won't understand until they witness a non-certified teacher work wonders in a classroom with children.

101 Questions for Charter School Parents and Staff provides an excellent bank of questions to ask board members, administrators, and stakeholders. The best course of action would be to provide 101 Questions for Charter School Parents and Staff for every person involved in the charter school.

Be forewarned. Some of these questions will hurt feelings and start controversy among administration, teachers, paraprofessionals, and students. But if your school is failing in your eyes, then I implore you to ask each question sometime during the school year at a scheduled board meeting. The goal is to increase the learning opportunities for all students in classrooms.