Spring Break and Charter Schools
It’s spring break in Huntsville and in “celebration” we here are Rocket City Mom are taking a tiny break from our normal Tuesday education posts.
But don’t worry, we aren’t resting on our laurels or on the wonderful beach at the top of this page. Instead we are doing our homework and reading through House Bill 541 (all 60 pages!) and asking questions of local House Representative Phil Williams who just happened to sponsor this new and controversial bill.
Do you have questions about charter schools and what they mean for Alabama? Are you looking for an unbiased examination of the new law and what it will and won’t do to change the education system for Huntsville? Leave your question in the comments today and we’ll do our best to find the answers.
Also, from everyone at Rocket City Mom.com have a great spring break and get outside to enjoy this beautiful weather!
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Maybe this has been answered elsewhere, but while it’s great charter schools get a “pass” from having to obey some of the strict laws that traditional public schools have to obey, can traditional public schools get that same “pass” or “charter status” if they want it? It seems a shame not to lend more support to the schools we already have if they’re interested in being more innovative and nimble.
And just my personal soapbox peeve…if the majority of our state legislators would be brave enough to recommend a teeny tiny tax increase (y’know, so we don’t have to see $200 million cut from our education funding this year, not to mention having to remove more state troopers from the roads this year, let more convicts out of prison because we don’t have the funding to keep them in there, etc. etc. etc.) we would be doing our school kids a greater service. Sorry for the soapbox. I’m stepping down now.
Anna Claire, you are so on target! I taught in one of the suburban school systems in Birmingham for 14 years before moving here. I was so shocked and dismayed at the state of the schools. Don’t get me wrong – there are wonderful teachers in Huntsville and they do amazing things with the little funding they have, but they shouldn’t have to work under those conditions. We pay nearly half of the property tax rate that I paid in suburban Birmingham and it shows in the schools. The classes are so much larger and they don’t have the technology or supplies the high scoring schools do. This is a highly educated community but a cheap one when it comes to our children’s education. Now that I am a parent myself, I am very concerned about the type of education my child will receive, especially since I know first-hand how much better things could be.
Why not go ahead and gift the school of your choice with the same amount you pay in property taxes? That would put you right up there with Birmingham but by choice. I for one would like to have more choices and less mandates on what I should do with the money I earn. This would also guarantee that your money went to the school and was not wasted by the government.