You shouldn't be so quick to blame the local government for the placement of this or any other charter school.  One of the drawbacks with the rules around charter schools is that they are pretty much "driving the bus" when it comes to deciding where they will locate and often the local governments are just forced to accept the decision made by the charter school and the state agency(ies) which grant the charters.

I do agree that it seems odd (I would use a different term - but I am trying to be "kinder and gentler) to use a building on the "north end" to educate students from the other side of town.

Quoted Text

   “They cut into the school budget,” said Claire Covey in an email that was read into the record. “Charter schools are, in my opinion, nothing more than a private school run with taxpayer money.”

And this is the bottom line here folks.......not what is best for the kids...........it's all about the MONEY/UNIONS!!!!!

Quoted from bumblethru

And this is the bottom line here folks.......not what is best for the kids...........it's all about the MONEY/UNIONS!!!!!

Wouldn't it be nice that with all the money poured into public schools they would be as successful as private schools?

There's always room in the budget....just no one wants to step on union toes or promises of retirement benefits.

You know that in many districts, even SUBSTITUTE teaches are racking up retirement benefits?  

Quoted from DemocraticVoiceOfReason

I do agree that it seems odd  to use a building on the "north end" to educate students from the other side of town.

ROFLMAO   HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!!!!!!


Words from the non-taxpayer who wants to have all school districts in the county to be consolidated into one, which will mean kids from the current "city" will be sent to a building far away "on the other side" of the county, at the edge of the county, far from their homes, out in Schalmont perhaps, maybe Duanesburg.  And kids from the "southeastern end" of the county (current Mohon area)  might be sent far away, clear across to the "northwester side" of the county, far away from their homes.  

Perhaps one Kdg and first grade in one current school district; Grades 2 and 3 in another current school district, etc.    Yep, the taxpayers have an endless supply of money and can easily afford consolidation and the busing all over the place.


And DV has the nerve to think this is odd?      Obviously he is quite the hypocrite.


He's the odd ball here who thinks the answer to everything is government, courtesy of the taxpayers' money (expenditures he does not have out of his pocket).   An oddball just like all his fellow dems to are blind to what the taxpayers are burdened from the dems' wild and uncontrolled spending of the taxpayers' money, blind to the plummeting property values (remember what McC said, there will be NO reassessment), blind to the drastically reduced tax base that they--the dems--themselves have caused with their lame brain ideas, and  who think there is a renaissance and the city is this great miracle.

Where is the miracle?  


What miracle has taken place in the best interest of the homeowners and their financial burdens?    Can any dem answer that question?

Quoted Text

SCHENECTADY
190 sign petition favoring charter school
Some have no eligible children
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

    Although 190 people have signed a petition supporting a charter school in Schenectady, some of them say they were not requesting it for their own children.
    Some of the signers have children too old to attend an elementarylevel charter school. Others live in Albany and other areas, where some of them have already enrolled their children in a charter school.
    The organizers of the charter school provided phone numbers for a few parents, but not one of them would be directly affected by the creation of a new school.
    One parent said she signed the petition at an event for children, even though she has reservations about a charter school.
    “We’re going to take risks either way,” said Shampagne Levin, who has been a volunteer working with at-risk youth in Schenectady. “Something needs to be done. We have to find some way of catching those kids who have been slipping through the cracks.”
    Starting an elementary school might help build a better foundation for those children so they do better in high school, she said. But the cost worried her. “People get very, very nervous about the financing,” she said. “What has happened over the past few years is we have been taking tax dollars from our public school system, which is taking away from the enthusiasm and the teachers. Do we invest into this school when we have maybe four or five other elementary schools going on? It’s almost like a catch-22.”
    Levin has a 3-year-old, so she has no direct experience with the Schenectady City School District as a parent. But she said she was disturbed to see teenagers skipping school and “leading a fast life” on the streets.
    She decided to simply move to another area, an hour away, which she would not disclose.
    “We just relocated for a better school district,” she said.
    Another parent, Garry Murray, signed the petition even though his only child is far beyond elementary school age.
    His son attends Schenectady High School. Murray said he was disappointed by teacher availability for extra help.
    His son needed help in math, Murray said, but the teacher would only offer extra help at 7:30 a.m., before school started. His son wanted after-school help.
    “I had to have a math tutor come over,” Murray said. “The teacher did help after class, but it’s not like a charter school where teachers come in at 7 a.m. and don’t leave until 7 o’clock at night.”
    He also wants schools to offer longer days and require uniforms.
    Parent Vanessa Turner also signed the petition, although she lives in Albany. Her son has always attended charter schools and is now in 11th grade at Green Tech High.
    She said the charters are clearly superior to public schools.
    “Their focus is totally different,” she said. “It’s not big huge classrooms. They welcome the students to stay after school for help. It’s receptive to the kids.”
    She also likes the required uniforms, saying it allows students to concentrate on class rather than on their clothing.
    Schenectady school board President Cathy Lewis said teachers do offer extra help to students, through group classes during the day as well as individualized sessions.
    At the high school, students are also assigned to a team of corecurriculum teachers who meet weekly to discuss struggling students and devise plans to help them improve.
    “Our teachers work quite deliberately with young people that need help,” Lewis said. “I feel we have very dedicated teachers.” ....................................>>>>>..............................>>>>>.......................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00903&AppName=1