W. Patric Gregory explains his thoughts on why funding charter schools needs to be a top priority.

1. THE
IMPORTANCE
OF FUNDING
CHARTER
SCHOOLS
BY: W. PATRIC GREGORY
WPATRICGREGORY.NET

2. DO CHARTER SCHOOLS DESERVE THE
SAME AMOUNT OF FUNDING THAT
DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVE?
MANY BELIEVE THAT THEY DO, IN FACT,
73% OF AMERICANS SUPPORT CHARTER
SCHOOLS, AND YET THEY ARE STILL NOT
BEING FUNDED AT THE SAME LEVEL AS
THEIR COUNTERPARTS. CHARTER
SCHOOLS ONLY RECEIVE 64% OF THE
SAME AMOUNT OF FUNDING THAT
DISTRICT PUBLIC SCHOOLS RECEIVE.
CHARTER SCHOOLS ARE BASED ON THE
CONCEPTS OF EDUCATIONAL QUALITY,
FOCUSING ON THE CHILDREN, AND
PROVIDING SAFER AND STRONGER
COMMUNITIES. IT IS IMPORTANT TO
HIGHLIGHT THE STRONG QUALITIES
THAT CHARTER SCHOOLS PROVIDE TO
SHOW WHY THEY NEED TO BE FUNDED
JUSTLY.
WPATRICGREGORY.NET

3. WPATRICGREGORY.NET
EDUCATIONAL QUALITY
Charter schools exist to provide every child with a quality education. This
means that charter schools hold themselves to a higher standard than
most public schools. Charter schools only stay up and running for the
students if these standards are met on a yearly basis.
Accountability is a foundation that charter schools operate on. If the
charter school in question does not perform up to the standards that are
set by the state then it will close down. That is why many charter schools
outperform the rest of the schools in their playing field. They continuously
perform to their highest level, which in turn keeps them open to continue
to serve the children.
In New York City the average test scores for both math and reading fall
on 35% or below. The Success Academy Charter Schools, founded by
Eva Moskowitz a leading figure in the charter school community, have
retained an average of 64% for reading scores and 94% for math scores
among their 34 charter schools in New York City.

4. FOCUSING ON THE KIDS
WPATRICGREGORY.NET
Unlike district public schools where the children are zoned to a school
based on where they live, charter schools are run on the choice of the
parents that want their children to attend the school. This gives the parents
the freedom to choose the school that they believe is the best fit for their
child.
Like the parents, teachers also have the choice to choose to work at
charter schools where they believe their skill set will help serve the
children the best.

5. PROVIDING A SAFE
COMMUNITY
WPATRICGREGORY.NET
Since charter schools do not receive
the same amount of funding that
district public schools receive, many
times the charter schools will work
with local businesses and other
organizations to provide resources
for the children. This helps bring the
community together as they are
coming together to serve the same
purpose of helping the children.

6. CHARTER SCHOOLS DESERVE
FUNDING
WPATRICGREGORY.NET
Time and time again, charter schools have been
proven to be effective educational systems. Besides
consistently outscoring the public school system,
many of these public schools are learning from
charter schools and implementing their techniques
into their own systems.
Another achievement that charter schools have
accomplished is their success in closing the racial
gaps among their schools. According to the
National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, African
American students in charter schools score higher
in math and English than those in district public
schools.
Charter schools have effectively shown that they
function and perform better than district public
schools. For this reason and the great work and
community building that they provide outside of the
classroom shows that charter schools deserve to be
funded fairly just like their counterparts.