Proposed Utica Charter School
By: Chelsea Rarrick
Updated: January 26, 2012
The idea of a charter school in Utica was on the minds of some people Thursday night.
The proposal was presented by The Syracuse Academy of Science Chapter, and the school would be for grades 6th-12th.
The president of the board of trustees says students could benefit from the school because of longer school days and smaller class sizes.
However, one public school teacher who attended the meeting tonight defends public education, saying the teachers provide great education in public schools.
He also says having a charter school could actually hurt the Utica City School District.
"You have a private for-profit corporation. As I understand, charter schools coming in and taking tax payers dollars off the back of kids in a Utica public school," said Mike Spost, a public school teacher.
"Proposing a charter school doesn't mean that the public schools are bad. This is just another option for the parents who live in the city. Currently, there is only one high school and one curriculum. So when you have another charter school in the city, it will be in a different setting," said Dr. Fehmi Damkaci.
If all goes as planned for the charter group, members hope to have the school open in August of 2013.
For more information on the proposed charter school, you can head on over to http://www.uascs.org
The proposal was presented by The Syracuse Academy of Science Chapter, and the school would be for grades 6th-12th.
The president of the board of trustees says students could benefit from the school because of longer school days and smaller class sizes.
However, one public school teacher who attended the meeting tonight defends public education, saying the teachers provide great education in public schools.
He also says having a charter school could actually hurt the Utica City School District.
"You have a private for-profit corporation. As I understand, charter schools coming in and taking tax payers dollars off the back of kids in a Utica public school," said Mike Spost, a public school teacher.
"Proposing a charter school doesn't mean that the public schools are bad. This is just another option for the parents who live in the city. Currently, there is only one high school and one curriculum. So when you have another charter school in the city, it will be in a different setting," said Dr. Fehmi Damkaci.
If all goes as planned for the charter group, members hope to have the school open in August of 2013.
For more information on the proposed charter school, you can head on over to http://www.uascs.org
