Should Charter Schools Push College Readiness So Hard?

Should charter schools, lauded for their good stats and so beloved by the Obama administration, be pushing college as the next step as relentlessly as they are? The question, asked by GOOD, is a big one as it complicates the very definition of student success.

Some would argue — as Geoffrey Canada of the Harlem Children's Zone does on the New York Times' Room for Debate blog — that charter schools are happily defying the myth that poor and minority students can't succeed academically, and college is, naturally, a representation of that academic success. KIPP schools, for instance, take traditionally underserved groups of students and reliably send them to four-year colleges and universities.

But are four-year colleges and universities the be-all, end-all to a successful life? Are they the "real" world? True, higher-paying jobs tend to ask for college degrees, but there are other avenues and opportunities, like vocational education or hands-on job experience, that high schools could also offer or suggest to interested students.

While there's no doubt that higher education can be a truly rewarding experience and it makes sense to encourage students to aim for it, perhaps one of the concerns the GOOD piece is voicing is that it feels a little strange that fourth graders at some charters, like Think College Now, in Oakland, California, are already being told to ask themselves if they are making "college-bound choices" today. Is a child free to think for him or herself if this kind of stuff has been pounded into his or her brain since age 9?

In any case, one of the toughest parts about college these days, regardless of how hard it's pushed, is affording it. If all students should be encouraged to attend, isn't there a way we could, like so many other countries in the world, help provide real access? More and more colleges — even community colleges, thanks to state budget crises — can either by prohibitively pricey or leave students in mountains of debt.

Some charter schools, like Colorado Springs Early Colleges and Pikes Peak Prep, are combating this through early-college programs, allowing students to earn associate's degrees from local community colleges at the same time as their high school diplomas. According to the Colorado Springs Gazette, this is paid for by "the per pupil revenue [these schools] receive from the state."

So maybe that's the biggest question of all: How is it that charter schools have the ability to offer this kind of opportunity out of public funds when so many public schools do not? And is this choice of fund allocation the best choice for students?

Photo credit:  tom.arthur