By Steve Levy
It’s great news that three new charter schools have been approved in Brentwood and Central Islip in Suffolk.
As noted in the white paper prepared by our Center for Cost Effective Government, charter schools provide an opportunity for many children, especially in minority communities, to break free of failing, violent public schools, and ultimately, poverty.
For the most part, the public school system on Long Island is very good, but there are pockets of lagging schools. Why should parents be trapped in these underperforming schools that are basically a monopoly? There seems to be something rather unconstitutional about forcing a student to go to a certain school simply because of the randomness of where they live.
Rich folks, many of whom oppose charter schools and school choice, often send their children to the better private schools because they can afford it. Why shouldn’t all parents have these choices?
Many states are now allowing the educational funding to flow with the student and the parent rather than forcing them to go to a lousy school. And here’s the best part: Where charters have been implemented, it’s usually the case that the public schools in that area actually improve because they’re now faced with competition.
Charters outperform the public schools significantly, and do so at a much lower cost. Some will say that’s because they can cherry-pick their students, but most of these charters now gain attendance via lottery systems. The point is, charters have stricter, higher standards and don’t tolerate insubordination and other nonsense. That’s what makes them work.
No one‘s forced to go to a charter school. Likewise, no one should be forced to go to a failing, violent local school when another alternative is available.
This may be the quickest way to end poverty in America today.