YOUR COMMENTS

Pauline - you are a piece of work. Let's see if I can get you to understand this - charter schools are public schools. They are not private. Not in any way shape or form.

Let's see if you can understand this - if you remove some of the folks who are not succeeding in public school, put them in an alternative school, those left in the public school will not have the distractions, and be able to receive more (in theory) attention from the teachers. Those other folks (who by state law must stay in school until age 18) have a chance on receiving an education, and a fair shot at obtaining a job.

There are also charters out there that specialize in the arts and sciences for those children who wish to study those more in depth than the public schools currently teach. There are charters out there that focus on literacy (as the one in Pembroke - the Concord Monitor ran a great
story on it the other day).

Charters are not a threat to the public school system. That is not going away anytime soon.

Why are you so threatened by them?
- Bess, Concord

Wow Pauline, you are a piece of work. Obviously the charter school in Franklin did something to you that you are not elaborating on.
I think if you are going to comment on a story you should have all the facts and most of all KNOW WHAT YOU ARE TALKING ABOUT!
Charter schools are not private schools full of delinquents. And anybody can attend.
My daughter who happens to be 5 goes to a charter school that focuses on literacy.She is not a delinquent, none of the kids are. I am very grateful that her school opened and I didn't have to sent her to our town school. I want my daughter to succeed in school. When the schools we are expected to send our children to fail the state testing and the parents can not afford private school what else are our choices? We own a home and pay very high taxes, yet I drive my daughter to school every day and pick her up rather than send her to our town school which we could walk to.
- Laurie, Allenstown

We should be able to take whatever funds it takes to educate our children in public schools and put that toward any school we choose our kids to be in. This way no one is getting more or less from the state and we choose our childrens education.In some states they already are doing that.
- K, Hillsboro

Bess, I know they are public schools, but they might as well be private schools with only so many kids getting the chance to go with most of those being the troublemakers.
I saw it right here in Franklin.
As for the deliquents, once you stop giving them the audience they want, they stop being so productive.
I also have seen that right here.
As for the drop out rate, ANY school's drop out rate is never correct because they don't account for the kids that have moved out of state or out of the district- if they can't find them and they didn't graduate at FHS, then they were counted as drop outs.
I went over the supposed drop outs some years back and found many errors.
You can choose to coddle these delinquents all you like. I guarantee you get burned. They were never taught to work for anything.
Check with the kids here- this is THEIR saying about Special Education- aka SPED-
"S-P-E-D, teachers do the work for me!"
I say if "Sam" wants to be a potato, then that's all "Sam" will ever be.
How sad that folks like you care to give all the rewards to the bad kids.
So, in effect, pandering to their behavior now has created kids being FED fish and not being TAUGHT to fish.
- Pauline, Franklin

WOW! If we took even a portion of this energy to finding solutions for ALL New Hampshire students, we'd have quite the solution! Please-- let's all work together to educate all of our students in the way that works best for each of them. There is no "one-size-fits-all" education for our students. Let's not resort to name calling and prejudging students by which school they attend. Students who chose where they go to school are invested from the start. Let's look at options for our students-- and fairly fund all public schools, charters included.
- B, Rochester

It saddens me that this legislature (and the seven most recent legislatures before it) have steadfastly refused to adequately fund public education in spite of a Supreme Court ruling forcing them to do so.

I am not opposed to charter schools; I think they can fill a great need, but how can we fund them to a higher level than our public schools? I am pleased that we have a democratic house, senate, council and governor (at least in comparison to the alternative), but I'm really not impressed with them right now.

We are we willing to spend only $3,800 each on the vast majority of our students-public school students-but we are willing to spend $5,000 on charter school students? It is very difficult for me to accept or support.

BTW, Mike P, the difference between "your" and "you're" is part of why so many of us are actually fighting for public education.
- Bobby, Keene, NH

Pauline from Franklin said "Why should the kids who are delinquents get a chance at a private school education on my dollar?"

Charter schools are not private schools; they are public schools.

It's too bad the Franklin Career Academy closed. With the new compulsory education age increased to 18, options like that one made sense. And it listed no drop-outs this past spring. Can the Franklin High School boast that? (the answer is no)

Pauline went on to say "If you coddle them now, when they turn 18 they will be useless. Society does not tolerate deliquents. They don't coddle them and they certainly don't give them jobs."

Well, now, personally, I'd rather get those folks who are struggling in the public schools some sort of education and job training BEFORE they turn to welfare because they find they can't hold a job. You know, the old give a man a fish versus teach a man to fish. I'd rather teach.
- Bess, Concord

Jeff (Manchester),
In which public school do you teach? Perhaps your an administrator,or better yet a union hack?
Will you allow homeschoolers a tax refund of the money they should not be sending to public schools? Didn't think so.
- Mike P., Manchester

Mission Accomplished.
Franklin's Charter school closed. Let's hope it stays that way.
With all the programs to help "special needs" kids that the government has foisted on us, we should not have to keep paying more and more to educate these kids.
If they are such problem kids, then the parents need to give them a good swift kick in the butt to make them get with program or pay for their little darlings extra education costs themsleves.
Charter schools are nothing but a publically funded private school. Not everyone can go.
Why should the kids who are delinquents get a chance at a private school education on my dollar?
If you coddle them now, when they turn 18 they will be useless. Society does not tolerate deliquents. They don't coddle them and they certainly don't give them jobs.
- Pauline, Franklin

Jeff from Manchester - $5,000 a year is a bargain for education. It's less than any of the NH public schools currently cost per pupil.

I guess your way of saving money would be to pay an additional $4K (or more) per pupil to educate them in the public school system.

Keep the charters alive. Just one tiny step for educational freedom and choice.
- Bess, Concord

Jeff, don't be so narrow minded. Charter schoiols are better than traditional public schools and even at the increased cost per student to the state they are still cheaper than public schools. It was a Charter school in RI that saved both my boys from becoming drop outs and I think there should be more of them. IF you have achance check out the drop out rate in charter schools as opposed to the public school dropout rate. Also New Hampshire should try to get one affilliated with a a labor union like the Laborers or the UAW to help support it. Thats the way the one My boys went to was set up.
- Steve Micke, Conway

Jeff, $5,000 is a fraction of what it costs to educate a student in public schools. Check out last week's Newsweek to see how many Charter Schools made their list of the top 100 schools.
- Tom Grinley, Bradford, NH

This is crazy... Other states have the right idea.

Give the money to the PARENTS and they should choose what school their children go to and then pay the shcool.... whether it be public, homeschool, private or charter. Make schools have to fight for the funding and the children.



I homeschool and it is so hard for me to pay for my children's school supplies and still continue to pay taxes for my children to not attend a public school. Essentailly I am paying twice what I should for my children's education.
- Heather, Manchester

This is GREAT! So much for charter schools costing less and doing a better job. There is no way that these schools should be getting more than their share from the state, even for one year. Let these kids go to public schools or home school and ease the state budget a bit.
- Jeff, Manchester