In the last couple of years, mayor Rahm Emanuel has pushed for the expansion of the charter school system in Chicago. Charter schools are publicly funded but operate independently outside of the public school system. There are non-profit charter schools and for-profit charter schools, for-profit created in the interest of making money, which are also the kind Emanuel’s office hopes to establish.
Emanuel’s administration is moving lower-class families out of their neighborhoods, decreasing the enrollment size of nearby schools, making it much easier to close them and open charters in their place. These charters make more money and leverage more power for the people who already have the majority of money and power, while also ridding Chicago of poverty, in order to make room for wealthy and primarily white residents.
Many of the richest and most politically connected individuals in Illinois own charter school networks. The push for more charter schools by these same individuals and cohorts of these individuals seems to be a conflict of interest.
Charter schools are known for boasting high graduation rates in order to pull more students in and create a larger profit. Many of these schools kick students out that are not reaching standards and make it harder for these students to attend other schools and ultimately succeed in life. A 2009 study conducted by the Massachusetts Teachers Association found that over half of the students enrolled in the previous five ears in similar charter school systems never made it through graduation.
On top of that, the creation of more charter schools draws students from the already dwindling neighborhood school enrollments, making it easier for the government to shut down neighborhood schools and implement more charters. Multiple studies at various universities have also published reports stating that charters to not perform better than traditional public schools. Shutting down neighborhood schools is not only detrimental to the children’s education but also to the community itself.
By limiting education, there are fewer opportunities for these children to succeed thus continuing the cycle of poverty and letting the people that already have power keep it. Without affordable and adequate education, the gap between the poor and the rich even further. Education means our children, and our children are the future.