Wayne Millette: Charter for Innovation

Tracy Jens Dear Mr. Millette: Hello, my name is Tracy Jens I was just listening to one of your video segments, I just wanted to comment on charter schooling. I have to say I learned something new from watching your segment. Being a graduate from Central Michigan University myself I was unaware that Central Michigan holds to bulk amount of the charter school allowances and charter schools provide education for about one thousand students. I also was not aware that universities are able to approve the workings for a charter school. This is very interesting to me because I have always thought that most of the charter schools were approved by the school district they are in or the state. I do agree with you on many points about operating a charter school. While I do agree that schools of choice can give kids a better educational opportunity and the ability to be able to learn things they might not be able to learn at other schools. I think that students should be able to go to whatever school whether it is a charter school or public school within a certain amount of miles from where they live. I say because I know several teachers who work in both public schools and charter schools. Teachers from both locations say that they have students that are coming to their school from as far as Waterford. Some of the teachers I know think that this is unfair for them as well as the students they teach, because the teachers have class rooms that are filled to the max and they have more students then they can handle. The students don’t get as much one on one learning from the teachers when they have a lot of students in the class room. The comment I just made was about a perspective I got from some friends of mine who are teachers. I however am not a teacher I think charter schools are a wonderful idea. It gives parents an alternative school location to send their child to if they do not want to send the child to the public school in the district where they live or they can not afford to send their child to private school. I think that charter schools are benefited in the Detroit area. Charter schools in the Detroit area are doing two things. They are creating teaching positions available for those students who are just graduating college and looking for a job. Charter schools are also good alternative schools for children to go to get away from the violence that has started occurring in so many of the schools in the last few years. I think charter schools provide excellent learning opportunities for kids to learn in. I just hope the charter schools that are in existence today are in existence in five or ten years and do not close because of money issues that the state is having. In best regards Tracy Jens Eastern Michigan University student