On September 3rd, students and faculty will return from summer break to Upland School District in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Only this time, teachers won't be getting paid. The school district has over $22 million in debt and is unable to pay any of its employees for this upcoming school year. The unfortunate part is that the school's debt is due largely in part to the growing number of charter schools in the area. On average, Upland School District pays over $64 million to Charter Schools, exceeding the amount of money that they receive from the state. While the teachers of Upland School District are in a unique situation, more public schools are finding themselves in similar situations.

But are charter schools really a better alternative to the traditional school district? Or is this notion that they can provide a higher quality education really an illusion brought on by the allocation of more resources to fewer students?

Financial Inequality

Charter schools are tuition-free because they receive money from the home school district to cover the cost of educating each student. However, the charter school often receives far more money from the public school than it would have cost to educate the student in their home school district. For example, Upland has to pay $40,000 dollars for each special needs student that attends charter school. Yet, they could provide the same quality education to the student for less than half the cost.

Receiving twice as much money as needed from public schools, it is no wonder that many of the charter schools popping up are being run by for-profit companies. Meanwhile, the students that remain in the public schools are left with even fewer resources. With so much of the school’s funding sent to charter schools, budget cuts are inevitable, meaning teacher layoffs and larger class sizes. As a result, many public school students, concerned by the lack of resources, go to charter schools in search of a better education. Thus a dangerous cycle has been created as public schools cannot hope to fund a good education for both their students and those in charter schools.

Classroom Environment

Many people see charter schools as the solution to the failing education system as they boast having smaller class sizes that give students more interaction with the teachers and provide a better class atmosphere. Due to the nature of the charter school structure, there is also the benefit of parent involvement in the child's education. Parents have to place their child into a charter school and as a result, that school has more leverage on the parent to hold them and their child responsible for their performance. Charter schools also have the luxury of being able to get rid of students who are disruptive to the classroom. With few behavioral problems, it is inevitable that charter schools will have a class environment that is more conducive to learning. In comparison, public schools have a combination of parents who want to be involved and those who either don’t have time or don’t want a part in their child’s education. Public schools also don’t get to pick their students, and teachers have to juggle a wide range of abilities and behaviors.

Student Performance

Despite having the advantage, studies by The Center for Research on Education Outcomes (CREDO) suggest that charter schools are performing at levels below or equal to their public school counterparts. For those schools that did place higher, many had implemented a schedule that involved three to ten weeks of additional class time. The study also found that while charter schools did have positive effects on the performance of students who were either low-income or low-achieving, they also had a negative impact on the performance of the higher achieving students.

Despite the steady decrease in funding, public schools also tend to offer students more options when it comes to classes in the arts and typically will offer more Advanced Placement courses for students. There are also more opportunities for students to get involved in sports and after school programs. While this may seem inconsequential for their core education, these programs often prove to be a source of motivation for students to work harder in their classes and make them excited for school.

Reality

When it comes down to it, charter schools are hurting the education system - not helping it. The current system also cannot stand on financial grounds, as more and more public schools will start to find themselves in situations similar to that of Upland. While changes do need to be made in order to improve the education system, diverting money from public schools is not the answer. With the implementation of new Common Core curriculum in classrooms across the country, maybe it is time we start focusing on what we are teaching our children, rather than where.