Recently, after two bills have passed in Montana allowing the allocation of funding towards charter schools, two charter schools have been approved in Missoula.
A charter school is a school that typically focuses on a specialized form of education and there are usually requirements to get in, however it is still considered a public school and receives public funding. These schools can be seen as controversial as they use the same money that public schools use.
From the perspective of public schools, this can be harmful as it takes away from their funding, which is already often not enough to do what public schools aspire to do. Budgets in public schools are often stretched from what the government can get them. Sometimes, teachers have to resort to buying certain supplies out of their own pockets because the school doesn’t have enough money to fully fund every classroom. On top of this struggle, allocating funding for charter schools also pulls from this budget, which can be difficult to work around for existing, government funded public schools. This can prevent further budgeting towards equipment in public schools, sports teams, building and repair funds,etc..
However, there are benefits to charter schools. Charter schools provide a specialized area of education for attendees that are primarily focused on one area of study. These often include areas that are not the primary focus of a public school, such as musical studies. Charter schools can help students with specialized interests and aspirations help focus on a unique and intense career path. These schools often prepare their students for success in the areas that they go into later in life. Though there can occasionally be requirements for entry in these schools, it is free of charge to the families that attend them because they are government funded. This allows many students of many backgrounds to have the education that they desire. When implemented in a way that negates prejudice, this can be a good way to build equality and diversity in different areas of work and study.
Specifically, in Missoula, the recently approved charter schools are STEAM focused, meaning that art is integrated into the typical STEM curriculum. Because of a large amount of budget cuts to the art department at the price of jobs, this can be very beneficial for some art educators. As several MCPS schools have been sometimes criticized for not including arts enough, this can be a good alternative option for students focused primarily on that aspect of their education.
The new charter schools could potentially change the public school system in Missoula due to these effects of the introduction of these schools. This could offer opportunities for students to explore a specialized path, however, depending on the allocation of funding, this could diminish the funds for other public schools.
