[Quixote]

Originally Posted by paulandjean

So lets lay-off someone who has a job thru the villages. Now lets kick their kid out of the school also.So the child worries about their parent losing a job and now they have to pull up from their school also and start somewhere also. Boy these educaters there have your child first in their minds. they should be ashamed of themselves. Its all about the buck. Surprised the school is not named for the owners .

... that some people thrive on negativity, self-destructive as it is. One can have an opinion--and express that opinion--without interminable hostility, negativity, cynicism that reflects more on the individual expressing it than on the topic itself. Speaking for myself, life is just too short to live like this! (And this has nothing to do with charter schools....)

[jbdlfan]

Originally Posted by manaboutown

Apparently about 25% of the students are on the free and reduced price lunch subsidy program which is need based as I understand it.

That is actually a pretty low number, 25%, for this area. A household with 4 people can make up to $42,000 for reduced and $30,000 for free. Add one person to the house and its $50,000 and $35,000. Those are decent wages in the outlying areas. To put in perspective, we are 80% free and reduced.

[Tellmeyourstory....]

TVCS is way beyond 25% free and reduced.....I would 25% are NOT on free and reduced.

When clubs in town collect $$$ or back packs and supplies for surrounding schools, I always wonder why they don't help the charter school kids....

Think about all the parents that work at the grocery stores, do the lawn work, the secretarial staff at different business', the waitress's - waiters, etc.....

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Tellmeyourstory....

TVCS is way beyond 25% free and reduced.....I would 25% are NOT on free and reduced.

When clubs in town collect $$$ or back packs and supplies for surrounding schools, I always wonder why they don't help the charter school kids....

Think about all the parents that work at the grocery stores, do the lawn work, the secretarial staff at different business', the waitress's - waiters, etc.....

How do you know this?

[Bonny]

Originally Posted by Tellmeyourstory....

TVCS is way beyond 25% free and reduced.....I would 25% are NOT on free and reduced.

When clubs in town collect $$$ or back packs and supplies for surrounding schools, I always wonder why they don't help the charter school kids....

Think about all the parents that work at the grocery stores, do the lawn work, the secretarial staff at different business', the waitress's - waiters, etc.....

The Parrot Heads always give to the Villages Charter School. We have included them in our Operation Back Pack & given money for uniforms.

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Bonny

The Parrot Heads always give to the Villages Charter School. We have included them in our Operation Back Pack & given money for uniforms.

Good for you.. I hear SO MANY good things about the Parrot Heads and you have fun too.!

[DougB]

Originally Posted by Tellmeyourstory....

TVCS is way beyond 25% free and reduced.....I would 25% are NOT on free and reduced.

This is not true. Manaboutown is correct that TVCS is about 25% free and reduced lunch, which is relatively low compared to other nearby schools.
South Sumter High School. 61%
South Sumter Middle School. 69%
Wildwood Elementary 86%
Webster Elementary. 84%
I could go on, but I believe that is enough.

[Tellmeyourstory....]

Originally Posted by graciegirl

How do you know this?

I have grandchildren there. And I used to work there

[Garden guru]

Originally Posted by Villages Kahuna

Parental employment by The Villages, contractors working for The Villages, or employees of businesses leasing Villages-owned property is indeed a requirement for enrollment in the charter schools. In addition, parents of students have to provide evidence of continued employment of at least 20 hours per week, usually a paycheck stub, every month.

Those are the rules, well understood and agreed to up front. If for whatever reason those rules aren't satisfied, the children of those parents no longer qualifying are dismissed to be enrolled in appropriate public schools.

Those are the rules which are reflected in the school's charter and are not subject to interpretation.

There's a difference between being legal and being ethical. Too bad so many Villagers talk a good talk about being fine, upstanding Christians and insist on pledging "one nation under God" but find nothing wrong with this kind of preferential treatment for employees' children. Reminds me of some certain Pharisees who were really good at quoting the Law but didn't have a clue about what God really required. Which children would Jesus think were not worthy of a high quality education? Would you deny Charter School admission to the boy Jesus because his parents didn't work in The Villages? As you do it to the least of these children, you do it to Him. Legality has nothing to do with it. It may be legal, but it's clearly WRONG!

[graciegirl]

Originally Posted by Garden guru

There's a difference between being legal and being ethical. Too bad so many Villagers talk a good talk about being fine, upstanding Christians and insist on pledging "one nation under God" but find nothing wrong with this kind of preferential treatment for employees' children. Reminds me of some certain Pharisees who were really good at quoting the Law but didn't have a clue about what God really required. Which children would Jesus think were not worthy of a high quality education? Would you deny Charter School admission to the boy Jesus because his parents didn't work in The Villages? As you do it to the least of these children, you do it to Him. Legality has nothing to do with it. It may be legal, but it's clearly WRONG!

The children are not denied an education in this area. Many people who work for The Villages do so in part to allow their children to go to the Charter schools.

I learned long ago that I myself could make things better for my children if I tried.

I found that the harder my husband and I worked, denied ourselves luxuries, the more choices we had for our children.

The people who teach at the local public schools are good teachers and dedicated people too.

Many of us climbed up from a fair public education and made a success of our lives through working hard.

Many villagers volunteer in the public schools classrooms and there are MANY, many, programs collecting food and money for the back pack programs for the public schools. We had a speaker, a teacher from one of our local schools who told us what a difference people who lived in The Villages made in public education..

You would be surprised and happy to see the good that our town does for public education. And know the many people who care.

I try each day to figure out what God "really requires".

None of us will know until the time comes.

[DougB]

Originally Posted by Garden guru

There's a difference between being legal and being ethical. Too bad so many Villagers talk a good talk about being fine, upstanding Christians and insist on pledging "one nation under God" but find nothing wrong with this kind of preferential treatment for employees' children. Reminds me of some certain Pharisees who were really good at quoting the Law but didn't have a clue about what God really required. Which children would Jesus think were not worthy of a high quality education? Would you deny Charter School admission to the boy Jesus because his parents didn't work in The Villages? As you do it to the least of these children, you do it to Him. Legality has nothing to do with it. It may be legal, but it's clearly WRONG!

The Villages Charter School operates by a Charter Agreement approved by the Sumter County Board of Education and the Florida State Department of Education. Unlike traditional county schools, their enrollment criteria is based upon one of the parents/guardians place of employment rather than geographic address of their home.
I work at a public school in a different county. Our enrollment is based on the geographic area the child lives. Although I would say no to John, Paul, Peter and the others, I certainly wouldn't turn Jesus away!

[ilovetv]

Originally Posted by Garden guru

There's a difference between being legal and being ethical. Too bad so many Villagers talk a good talk about being fine, upstanding Christians and insist on pledging "one nation under God" but find nothing wrong with this kind of preferential treatment for employees' children. Reminds me of some certain Pharisees who were really good at quoting the Law but didn't have a clue about what God really required. Which children would Jesus think were not worthy of a high quality education? Would you deny Charter School admission to the boy Jesus because his parents didn't work in The Villages? As you do it to the least of these children, you do it to Him. Legality has nothing to do with it. It may be legal, but it's clearly WRONG!

This is almost funny, considering most of the criticism against public charter schools centers on teachers' unions condemning charter schools for being a poor-quality education....and opponents' mantra of supposed "separation of church and state"!

And, Jesus AKA "Rabbi" was a teacher.....in a theocracy....which I don't think anybody here wants.

I think it's a great idea to encourage and enable productivity, by incentivizing parents to stick with their employment thru thick and thin, thus developing tenacity and work ethic which every child needs to see lived out to achieve a complete education.

[TexaninVA]

Have just now noticed this thread ... but here's a more general question.

Factually (not ideologically or emotionally) what does the data show about student achievement, in general, in terms of correlation with non-unionized teachers in a private school vs unionized teachers in a public school?

[DougB]

Originally Posted by TexaninVA

Have just now noticed this thread ... but here's a more general question.

Factually (not ideologically or emotionally) what does the data show about student achievement, in general, in terms of correlation with non-unionized teachers in a private school vs unionized teachers in a public school?

There is really no data because there are too many factors to consider. You can not just compare student achievement. It would be like comparing apples and oranges. Private schools do not take the same standardized tests as public schools, different social economic factors, disabilities, etc.

Due to special education laws, public schools must educate all children and provide the necessary programs to meet their special needs. This means that all school districts have special education programs and teachers who are trained to work with special-needs students.
Private schools do not have to accept children with special needs, and many choose not to. As a result, most private schools do not have special education programs or teachers trained to work with that student population.
However, most colleges and universities will say that students who enroll in college from public schools are as prepared as those from private schools and vise versa.