A "Sparrow Academy" experience demonstrates why the Step Up for Students voucher school "marketplace" needs a grand jury, a Grady Judd task force, and fundamental reform -- not an expansion.
Billy: Thank you for this article. It brought back some very sad emotions and memories for me because I once worked as a student finance director in a similar private school that is now a Charter. I left because I could no longer tolerate the grift going on in all aspects of the school due to the ease with which scholarship money could be obtained. But here’s the thing: most of the parents and guardians who came in looking for a couple school for their ESE child would tearfully (even some men would cry) tell me stories of their child’s abuse and neglect at public schools and how much they feared for their child’s future, and would sometimes cry tears of joy when I told them of their child’s McKay or SUFS “scholarship.”
What is it about Polk’s public school system that causes this kind of environment for ESE kids and their parents, an environment that ultimately spawned a monster of charter and voucher schools, and what needs to be done to ensure a safe environment and quality education for our most vulnerable students?
Billy: Thank you for this article. It brought back some very sad emotions and memories for me because I once worked as a student finance director in a similar private school that is now a Charter. I left because I could no longer tolerate the grift going on in all aspects of the school due to the ease with which scholarship money could be obtained. But here’s the thing: most of the parents and guardians who came in looking for a couple school for their ESE child would tearfully (even some men would cry) tell me stories of their child’s abuse and neglect at public schools and how much they feared for their child’s future, and would sometimes cry tears of joy when I told them of their child’s McKay or SUFS “scholarship.”
What is it about Polk’s public school system that causes this kind of environment for ESE kids and their parents, an environment that ultimately spawned a monster of charter and voucher schools, and what needs to be done to ensure a safe environment and quality education for our most vulnerable students?