Dear Ron,
"Charter schools" are 'public schools' that are run more from
the 'local level" by the principal and ususally group of PTA
activists and teachers and other school employees having
varied types of "consultative roles" --but I think in the end
the Principal (Administration) still casts the deciding voice on
policy - use of local funds mainly and single "contracts for
teachers that may/may not countermand the central union bargaining
agreements
Charter schools get more say so on budgeting of (local?) $$$ as
opposed to the central/state bureacracracy running the show -
-'Charters" are championed by both Democrats of the Clinton stripe
and centrist Republicans and their repective wings of the
"business community" supporters--read powerful sections of capital..
It caters to the "decentraliization of bureacracracy" movement but
is NO real solution to Public school crisis at all-- there is little
increase in funds for inner city "charters" --except in wealthier school
areas where PTAs can take up a hefty collection of local funds and
local corporations are more likely to issue "grants" or other forms of
monies --but usually with plenty of strings attached.
Many unions of school employees even support this in a limited way--
as they are never far behind the hind end of the Democratic Party
"centrist" wing
anyway-- and the unions are beholdedn to the Pols . for perks and
pork as "rewards" keeping the school employeees as passive as is possible.
.
Charter schools tend to divide the school employees and pander to
local indivdualist solutions and are a spike in the concept of school
employee and parent unity as any movement of workers in struggle.
Also recently a few Charters in LA here have already contracted out the
work of janitors and cafeteria workers to private firms who pay about
60% the wages and benefits of the redundant School District employees.
Many of these localist 'panaceas" take the heat off the corporate bosses
tax swindles carried out in a bi-partisan manner esp. over the last
20 years by the Demopubicans that heve seen the bosses/Corporations tax
rates vastly reduced and hence the real funding of most Public schools
has been going down --not up --even as the$$$ amounts per year
show increases , these never keep up with the inflation and the schools
funding in working class areas has been going down faster than
in the 'middle class' areas of town-- whilst the petty bourg. stiffens
local supports to "its " local schools --or ops out of public schools
altogether
for private academies and religious schools.
I think these crises and assaults on the 'public' schools are based
in the over all functions and material interest of the market and the
needs of the ruiling class in the labor market for workers. Globalization
and the bosses falling rate of profits problem are making them rely
more on the use of austerity-- this includes the schools too where
reliance
on workers contributions is going up much faster --whilst capitals goes
down--
but in any case the wealth used is a significant amount of surplus value
controlled by the bosses and their Government-- for their own class
purposes of social control and greasing the skids of the needs of the
wage system...
Neil
