Source: Chicago Tribune

Chicago Public Schools, which already has the largest junior military reserve program in the nation, on Monday will commission the country's first public high school run by the U.S. Marines, much to the chagrin of activists who have fought to keep the armed services out of city schools.

The dedication of the Marine Military Academy on the Near West Side comes a few days after Chicago officials announced plans to open an Air Force academy high school in 2009. If that happens, Chicago will become the only public school district in the nation to have academies dedicated to the Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines.

District officials say the military-themed schools give students more choices and provide an opportunity to enroll in schools that provide structure, discipline and a focus on leadership. They say the schools emphasize academics, not recruitment.

"We have to think outside the box, and what existed before simply did not work for far too many students," said Chicago Public Schools Chief Arne Duncan. "These schools are popular and have waiting lists, so that tells me parents want more of them."

Read more: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-military_15oct15,1,579614.story?ctrack=1&cset=true

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Presumably, parental permission is required, but even so ...

structure, discipline and an emphasis on leadership.

It would be interesting to follow these schools and see how
many students do enter the military.

It says more about our shool systems than anything else.

I dunno...while I don't like feeding the war hopper, it is up to them.

Some kids do benefit from that sort of rigid discipline. Some don't.

It's up to the parents, and just because a kid learns well in a tightly structured environment does not necessarily mean the same kid will race off to join the military. And generally speaking, the ones who DO join the military, though they're a minority of the whole JROTC bunch, do better than those who have no JROTC or serious, well structured DEP experience.

It's nice to sing Kumbayah and Give Peace a Chance, but the fact remains, we need a military at this stage of the game.

The fact that, right NOW, until January 2009, we have a nut job in charge is a different kettle of fish. An unfortunate one, that will be resolved.

By the time these kids graduate high school, a Democratic President will be serving in Term Two. And unless there is a draft as a result of a national emergency, there's nothing that forces them to join up.

For some children, a very disciplined, uniformed environment helps with logical thought and because the routine is so predictable, it can sometimes enable them to avoid being overmedicated by Big Pharma.

Don't send your kids there if you don't like the concept. It might work for some, though.

I spent a long career in the USN.

Good thing Cokie McSkeerdyHorse will be gone soon, even if he rides his pick up all the way to an Inauguration of Sanity in 09.

High school for SOLDIERS?

G.R.E.A.T.

:sarcasm:

What's different about this school is that it is charter/public. So the parents don't have to spend twenty grand a year to send little Suzy or Bobby to Military School.

Sometimes, parents use them when kids misbehave (remember AJ in the Sopranos?) but other times they use them when the kid is easily distracted.

Click on a state, and see a selection: http://www.military-school.org/Choice_of_Military_School/United_States/

Nice.
I think I'll make MY teen a soldier!


By the way, your link is for private military schools.
Not public charter schools, thank goodness.

me? Of COURSE the link is for PRIVATE military schools. That's why THIS charter school is different, capisce--because it is PUBLIC. Try reading for COMPREHENSION before you shoot your mouth off. It aids discussion.

What's different about this school is that it is charter/public. So the parents don't have to spend twenty grand a year to send little Suzy or Bobby to Military School.

Jesus H. Christ.

And like I said, no one is FORCING you to send your kid to this school. That's the concept behind public charter schools. Ya don't like it? DON'T patronize it.

:eyes:

I KNOW there are private military schools. I hardly needed a LINK for that.

Publicly funded CHARTER MILITARY SCHOOLS?
I don't like it? My tax dollars shouldn't FUND it.

:eyes:

representative government, I guess.

If you don't like that one, you won't like this one, either: http://www.echsonline.org/

Or any of these: http://www.wicharterschools.org/news.main.cfm?id=55

All things being equal...

They don't start these schools up without a critical mass of parents who like the idea. It's the funding alloted for their children that support the effort. It's not YOUR tax dollars, it's THEIRS.

:eyes:

Add religious orientation in there also.

Does THAT make me a libertarian?

These schools sometimes DO start up without your
fanciful "critical mass" of parents.

That's why we call them "controversial".

I consider some of these "charter schools"
a VERY slippery slope:

:eyes:

including religion in additon to a state curriculum, unless you volunteer to send your kid there. You may call them controversial, but don't include me in your "we"--they're well established now. They aren't "new." Plenty of parents avail themselves of the option. You don't like it, don't participate.

These schools either make it or break it in fairly short order. If they don't have the student body to support them, they don't stay open.

And the ones that take off, take off like a rocket, and serve those underserved kids who AREN'T in desegregated schools anymore--they're in "neighborhood schools" because towns and cities have figured out that it costs too much to bus kids, it's environmentally rude to use buses excessively, and you cannot force parents to send their kids across town to achieve a racial pot pourri when the schools themselves are dysfunctional.

Good states keep a close rein on their charter schools, and subject them to MORE scrutiny than the shitty regular public school in the slum zip code.

Separation of Church and State
(no tax dollars for religion)
is also a right.




And "separate by equal" is not a fight we should
have to take on AGAIN.

The state curriculum is not intermixed. Enough watchdogs make sure of that.

And I have news--separate AND unequal IS what's happening in most inner-cities with the return to "neigborhood" schools as busing goes out of fashion. It's being done without fanfare, but many schools are MORE segregated today than they were when the busing controversies first fired up.

These charter schools, whether the added focus is the military, the environment, a religion, science, math, the stage and screen arts, music, or simply separating males and females during the school day so they aren't 'distracted' aren't going away just because you don't like them. And they probably have more diversity than your average 'neighborhood' slum school.

They're here. Unless you can find a new funding stream for the failing inner city public schools, they aren't going away. Get used to it.

I am a proponent of some magnet programs.

And not all public schools are in the "slums". But they will be if
money continues to be siphoned off on every charter scheme that comes
along.

I continue to speak out against gender segregation in public schools.

The public school system isn't going to go away just because you don't like it.

Get used to it.

The charters can access funding streams that are denied to the slum schools, which are funded primarily by property taxes on shit/low value property. They can also do things like make gym class consist of a good long walk at the end of the day, so that they can save money on showers, heating gyms, hiring specialized teachers to teach the subject, and focus their interests (and available cash) on their 'specialty.'

I don't WANT the public school system to go away. You apparently aren't reading what I am writing for comprehension. I want them properly funded, and FAIR. Like they do in Vermont. But that's not happening, now, is it? The schools in Wellesley, Massachusetts are much better than the schools in Roxbury, Massachusetts.

Those people in Roxbury should be able to band together and use the tools available to them to give their kids a decent education. The government isn't helping them, and people who whine about charter schools aren't offering any alternatives to them, either. I don't think kids should be shit upon with a crap-ass education simply because that's the ONLY option available, and because nannies who are good at griping but aren't fixing the system don't want to entertain alternatives.

Charter schools ARE public schools, FWIW, and many of them do an outstanding job, and provide alternative education methodologies to kids who don't do well in the mainstream or who have goals other than attendance at a liberal arts college or bending wrenches/cooking in a voke environment. E.g.; JUNEAU in Wisconsin is a business high school, with a great reputation.

How about a choice when it comes to spending tax dollars to further militarize an already overmilitarized society? How about bringing school facilities up to date, paying the people who work with our children (who are, I am reliably informed, are our future) what they're worth, reducing class sizes, and setting up programs for more individualized attention for students who don't thrive in a traditional learning environment?

No, we have to spend half a trillion dollars on elective wars, so we don't got no money to spends on skools!

And that's just bullshit. Maybe if everyone, renter or owner, paid a designated, lock-boxed school fee as part of their taxes, we could see parity in education in Slumville and CityOnAHillside.

About the only one who has the spirit, and took all the money, put it in a box, and handed it out again is VERMONT. The rest of the nation doesn't have the spirit. And they won't, either. Because the rich don't want to fund education for the poor.

THAT's why charter schools flourish. Because the schools in Slumville suck, and the parents are sick of it. They figure they can't do worse, why not give it a try? And lots of these schools succed.

And not all of them are military--they're formed around interests that appeal to a group--like THESE: http://www.wicharterschools.org/news.main.cfm?id=55

Teach kids at a very young age How to run a Small Business. Progress them up to running mini corporations complete with issuing shares. Sub courses in Insurance and other financial subjects such as Annuities, Risk Management, Ethics,

Bankruptcy and insolvency tactics.

etc etc etc

http://www2.milwaukee.k12.wi.us/juneau/

It's in Wisconsin:

Juneau High School is located on the west side of Milwaukee between Interstate 94 and Blue Mound Road.

Founded in the late 1920's, Juneau has been a comprehensive high school within the Milwaukee Public School system. In the 1980's, Juneau modified its program to focus on business career options. Today Juneau offers career pathways in Administrative and Financial Services, Business Ownership and Operations, or Associated Careers - Allied Health Professions.

In order to better serve its students, Juneau submitted a grant application and in the fall of 1998 became one of the first two high schools in the nation to receive a grant under the Comprehensive School Reform, a grant program of the federal government. In April of 2002, Juneau became the first MPS high school to receive charter status.