Explain why closing school is a good deal

An open letter to the Woodland School Board from a Prairie Crossing Charter School parent:

My family lives within District 50 but has chosen to send our children to Prairie Crossing Charter School, a Blue Ribbon and Green Ribbon awarded K-8 school that provides its students with a personalized education.

This free, public charter school -- open to all students from Woodland and Fremont Districts -- uses the environment to engage its students, and teach them the value of education and community.

You have spent the past 15 years fighting to shut down this small, free, public charter school. We would like to know why.

In all the articles and documents we have read on the subject to date, including Woodland's own fact document the overriding reasoning behind the 15 years of ongoing litigation has been money. Woodland consistently sites general state aid and its division between itself and PCCS when making its argument against PCCS continuing. PCCS receives a portion of money from the GSA fund per Charter Schools Law, $3 million per year. PCCS receives no other money from the state and no money from property taxes.

Woodland District 50 currently receives property tax revenue for the students who live in your district but attend PCCS (on whom you incur no cost for education). If the PCCS was shut down and their students were forced to attend Woodland, you would receive that $3 million from the GSA fund. But you will also have to spend money on their education, plus staff for larger classes. Since you are already spending the property tax revenue allocated for these children, would you not then end up with less money per student?

Please explain how this is a good investment for the tax payers and all of the children in District 50.

Jennifer Mertz,

Wildwood