Sorry Kid, You Gotta Go

As I have written here before - the greatest thing about the American Public School System is that it legally has to educate every child who walks through the door. This is regardless not only of ethnicity, race, or economic background, but also ability or disability. If your child has been diagnosed with an autistic spectrum disorder, your district school doesn't only provide an education - it also provides the services, procedures, and protocols to ensure that your child will be educated properly. This includes, and is not limited to: speech therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and social skills classes. Perhaps your child will be placed in a inclusive classroom along with an aide, so that she can observe and learn from, as well as amongst, typically developing children. Maybe she will be in a self contained classroom with aids and a specially trained teacher, because this is what the district feels is best. Your child would be evaluated at some point and perhaps moved to an inclusive room if she progresses.

The above would apply to children who may have physical disabilities as well as to those who have behavioral and emotional problems. Perhaps there are children with processing delays who need specific individualized education plans (IEP's) so they can grow and learn accordingly. The reasons our public schools do this are not only legal. Educating our kids is vital, not just to our communities, but also our society. I have seen many children with IEP's as well as varied diagnoses not only go onto productive jobs after high school, but also trade schools and community college. In other words: they become functional members of society. 

Today there's an article in the New York Times about a charter school in Brooklyn who created something called the "Got to Go" list. This was a list of students who displayed behavioral problems and rather than help them - the school threw them out. The school made some effort, but apparently got frustrated with repeated behaviors and rather than try to accommodate and educate, just let them walk out the door.

This is not uncommon in charter schools. In fact, it's policy. I know from firsthand experience. When I taught in Newark Public Schools we had many a student show up mid-way through a month or the school year who were behavioral nightmares. When these students were asked where they came from, the answer was always the same: "I was kicked out of a charter school." When people ask why do charter schools do better than public schools? the answer is easy: they can throw kids out...and they do. Rather than scuff up their almighty test scores, and invest money into special teachers and staff as well as programs and protocols, they just throw kids out. Why bother with them?

This, I believe, speaks volumes of what charter schools have come to symbolize. They don't want to educate all kids - they want to educate some. In many cases, they don't have a choice. The school is on a schedule and any student who may possibly slow that down is viewed as a nuisance. Nothing else.

I have said it before, and I'll say it again: If I ran a school where I could throw kids out and only teach who I wanted...my school would be better than any public school within 100 miles. The motto of any school should never be "Got to Go". It should be "Come to Learn, Stay 'til You're Done."