I've been following the battle over Charter Schools between Andrew Cuomo and Mayor DiBlasio in New York. MSNBC has had quite a bit of coverage tonight and it got me to thinking: What's the difference between a Charter School and a Magnet School?
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What is a Magnet School ? According to Wikipedia, a Magnet School is
In education in the United States, magnet schools are public schools with specialized courses or curricula. "Magnet" refers to how the schools draw students from across the normal boundaries defined by authorities (usually school boards) as school zones that feed into certain schools.
I attended the
High School for the Performing and Visual Arts in Houston, Texas. Several other Kossacks did, too, I will add. HSPVA is a public school, not a charter school. However, admission is by audition. It is not a "zone school". There are also several other Magnet Schools in the Houston Independent School District focusing on things like law and criminal justice and medicine and health care professions. The classes are small, the facilities first-class, and the teachers tend to resemble college professors more so than High School teachers.
Two very famous attendees of my High School are Beyonce Knowles and my friend Helen Childress who wrote the film Reality Bites which was largely based on our circle of friends.
I have been giving a lot of thought about the difference between Magnet Schools--a concept dating back to the 70's at least and include the famous "Fame" school in NYC--and the idea of charter schools. I think I may have cracked the nut, but I would invite educators to add to this discussion (I am a former public school teacher in the Houston Independent School District, where HSPVA resides.)
Traditional Magnet Schools are under the jurisdiction of the local school board. While they are, by nature, exclusive and specialized, they are still under the control of the board and the Superintendent. However, Charter Schools receive tax dollars and yet operate far more independently from the taxpayers who fund them. The issue in New York City, with some Charter Schools sharing space with Public Schools, is very different from the Magnet School model. I find this deeply troubling, because it is compromising the ability of some Public School to offer certain services to their own students.
I had a neighbor years ago who did Teach for America and has since become a major player in the Charter School movement. I like him (they were great neighbors and dear friends) but I totally disagree with him on this matter. Magnet Schools are essentially highly specialized public prep schools, and Charter Schools are essentially private prep schools that receive public funding. They have also taken a page from the playbook from former Sec. of Education Rod Paige (who was Superintendent when I was teaching in HISD) and his "Texas Miracle" which consisted of suspending and expelling low-performing and special needs students when it came to testing time.
Thoughts?