Educational Options for Your Child
Learn about the different educational options for your child:|
Public Schools Charter Schools Home Schooling |
Private Schools Boarding Schools Vouchers |
Public Schools
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Charter Schools
- An alternative public school that is independent from the surrounding school district. Charter schools are put together by a group of parents, teachers, school administrators or private business. They cannot be organized by a church or religious group. Charter schools are authorized by a state university, community college, or local or intermediate school district.
- Unlike a local school district, which has an elected school board, the charter board for each school is appointed by the authorizing body. The authorizing college or school district is responsible for monitoring the schools to ensure they are meeting academic and financial standards and providing a safe, well-maintained building. The chartering body can close a school that fails to perform.
- Generally smaller than traditional neighborhood public schools, charter schools have a nonunionized faculty and are free from some of the central bureaucracy associated with local school districts. They must administer state assessment tests and employ Michigan certified teachers. They are not required to provide student transportation.
- Students at Michigan’s charter schools lag behind children in noncharter public schools on state MEAP tests — by as few as six points in eighth grade science and by as many as 28 points in 11th grade math. Some attribute this to the fact that many of the students introduced already have severe deficiencies and need time to be brought up to the level they should be.
- Nonprofit schools that cannot charge tuition. But they can be operated by for-profit management companies. The Leona Group, for instance, runs 18 charter schools in Michigan and seven in Arizona.
For profit management involvement
The charter movement in Michigan has been taken over by private firms — for-profit chains or single-school management companies.- Michigan charter law places few restrictions on them.
- The charter schools are drawn to management companies because they can provide hard-to-find school space and startup capital, the two toughest obstacles to starting a school. They’re also equipped to handle the reams of paperwork and bookkeeping the state requires.
- Charter schools get money from the state for each student, based on the amount that would be spent on that child in a non-charter school in his home district — up to a maximum of about $6,000 per student. Depending on the services they provide, management companies take about 10 percent of that.
- Franchise management companies often require local schools to adopt their curriculum. The Edison Project, for example, requires the schools it runs to embrace 70 percent of its curriculum; charter schools may tweak the other 30 percent.
Teacher and Parent Opinion
- Most parents feel that they have more say as to how their children are challenged. That the charter schools are more willing to accommodate them. Parents tend to get more involved since they have to go out of their way to sign up their children.
- Teachers feel that their ideas are heard more and thus they are more involved in running the school. There is also a lot less red tape and politics. Problems are more likely to be addressed within days, not weeks.
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Home Schooling
Info coming soon.Top
Private Schools
Info coming soon.Top
Boarding Schools
Visit Schools.com, which features a "School Finder" to help you to find schools that offer the right programs for your interests and needs. Learn about academic programs, sports, arts, and activities at college-prep boarding schools throughout the United States, Canada, and abroad. URL: http://www.schools.comTop
Voucher
Kids First! Yes, a group led by multimillionaire Amway President Dick DeVos and Detroit ministers, is waging a campaign to mandate school vouchers in districts with high dropout rates, such as Detroit. More info soon.Top
For more information contact:
Jeron Campbell,
Founder and CEO
(313) 506-3677
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