Back to school now so fight to get your kids into a Charter school.  What is a Charter School anyway? Perhaps if Pink Floyd went to one he would have learned that the lyric should say “We don’t need any education” in his famous song I would reluctantly sing every year as I tried to finally get the chlorine smell out of my bathing suit and put it away. Millions of kids will be lucky enough to attend a Charter School this year. The politicians love to praise them in all their speeches as if they invented the notion.

In 2008 President Obama vowed to double our investment in Charter Schools. George W. Bush was a big believer in Charter Schools. Bernie Saunders said he believes in public Charter School even Donald Trump has said that Charter schools work and that they work very well. Mitt Romney spoke at the NAACP Annual Convention and said that, “ charter schools are so successful that every politician can find something good to say about them.” Then why don’t all you blow holes simply support elite schools that are already out there? The whole point of a public education is that it is basic and simple and it is free to all the public.

Charter Schools are basically public schools that our tax paying money is funding but is privately run. Is that fair? The first ones emerged about 25 years ago as an experiment into new ways to educate to promote new educational approaches. The idea since then has exploded. There are now over 6,700 charter schools in America today educating almost 3 Million students their way. They even have popular stars backing as a promotional effort from Puff Daddy, Andre Agassi and Pit Bul. There is a positive looking KIPP charter schools network TV show. It boasts how difficult it is to get your kid into one of these elitist schools. Most kids are chosen by a lottery but almost all meet federal poverty guidelines.

Yet, 82% per cent go off to college. The critics say that charter schools over state their successes, syphon off talented students from the regular public schools and divert precious funds from the normal school district. Public means public elitism doesn’t belong here! The nation is going full stream into separating our children. 42 states already have charter schools. When did we get to vote that our tax money should go to elite schools? By just giving money to privately own school we are finding that the charter schools quality is uneven across the states and across schools. Some charter schools are so flawed that they don’t stay open throughout the school year. Then with that closing, your kid is back to public school.

Without supervision these private schools can just close suddenly without any notice to anyone. In some states many charter schools have failed. In Florida since 2008 119 charter schools have closed their doors. Fourteen have never even finished their school year. Who is even regulating if a reputable school is getting our tax dollars? Not Congress! They are still on vacation. Yes tax dollar paid 7 week vacations voted by them for them.   Well! Good luck with your children going back to some kind of school.