The Lie of Charter Schools

I have been a math, science and technology teacher for 14 years, mostly in private schools, and have seen a lot of "stuff" go on, but one thing has been true throughout all of the schools I have taught at.  The teachers have all gone into teaching because of a love for education and a desire to help students learn.  Administrators at the schools I have taught at were always former teachers, so were always cut from that same cloth.  However, there WAS one exception...there was one year that I taught at a charter school.

That year, I interviewed at this school over the summer and the head of curriculum told me that he was impressed with my ability to teach a wide variety of subjects.  When I asked about the benefits, he was full of praise for the health benefits, but when I asked about the salary, he paused for a moment.

"Well," he started, grinning sheepishly, "I'm not the head of HR, but normally we start teachers based on their years of public school experience, and you have all private school experience." (I had ten years under my belt at the time.)  "However, I'm sure we can get you credit for half of that experience and start you on step 5." 

And so, I went home, certain that I would start at least at a salary I could support my family on.  Instead, when I signed my contract, I was told by the head of HR, "We have to start you on Step 1 because the union makes us base your salary on public school experience."  Then, I picked up extra classes, so was teaching 8 sections of classes (out of a 10 period school day), but wasn't even full time (I was 3/4 time), making so little money that I was eligible for food stamps and unemployment.  My kids were on reduced price school lunch, and my house went into foreclosure.

When I got involved with the union, I found out that there was NO union policy about starting me based on public school experience, and that I should have started based on my full 10 years experience.  So, when I had the union bring it up to the head of HR, they agreed, saying that my next contract would show the change.

Two weeks later, as I was searching the job postings for the following year, I found a post for my position; it was April.  Then, on the last day of school in June, I was grading the last of my finals and putting my grades in the computer.  I had already cleaned out my desk and found another job, telling my students that I was unsure if the school was planning on bringing me back and saying goodbye to them.  As I finished my grading, the principal came into my classroom.

"Oh, I'm glad I caught you.  The administration has decided not to renew your contract, but I'm sure you expected that.  You can turn in your laptop on your way out."  And with that, she turned and left my classroom.

Our charter schools and the people in charge of them don't seem to care about the teachers in their employ.  All they DO seem to care about is the number of students they can attract to their schools and the amount of money they can funnel to the corporations that convince the politicians to allow them to create them.  These politicians then get nice fat donations from these corporations and the profiteers running them so they can stay in their elected positions.

We need to bring education and educational policy back under the control of the teachers, the parents and those who really care about the kids in the system.  We need to take the money out of education and make it, once again, a public right and good, as it was originally intended to be