Let the Children in Orange T-Shirts Lead Them
A hundred parents, teachers and kids from three free-standing charter schools packed the Senate Finance Committee hearing on a budget that will force their alternative public schools to close in June. Their orange T-shirts vastly outnumbered the lawyers in pinstripe suits with regulation orange badges to say they’re hired guns. Transparent fifth-graders and tenth-graders make good lobbyists.
Cocheco Arts and Technology Academy in Barrington, Seacoast Charter School in Stratham, and Franklin Career Academy in Franklin will have spent through their three-year federal start-up grants by June. They can’t make it on $4,000 per student the proposed House budget gives them. According to the Department of Education, the average public school spends $12,000 per child from the combined state, local and federal treasuries.
By law, a free-standing charter school is a public school that can’t raise taxes, can’t charge tuition, and has to take every kid who applies up to the approved number of slots. A lottery process kicks in if too many kids seek admission.
School districts can also start charter schools like the eLearning Center in Exeter. It gets much of its budget from local taxpayers. The residents will be footing maybe two-thirds of that school’s cost after its federal aid expires.
Eileen Liponis heads up fund raising at Seacoast, and said she’s run into a stonewall trying for foundation grants. No grants for public schools.
"That’s what the Gates and Wal-Mart Foundations told us," she said.
Mairead McCarthy, a fifth-grader at Seacoast, was proud so many people showed up to fight for charter school kids.
"It felt good," she said. "I want to keep this school going. I feel better in a small community like ours."
Read More…
Go There
[tags]Shirt,Shirts,TShirt,TShirts,T-Shirt,T-Shirts,Tee,Teeshirt,Teeshirts,Tshirt,Tshirts,Fashion[/tags
