As a strong supporter of public schools, I have grave reservations about charter schools in general, whether they be for math/science, fine arts, or tech trades. But for the citizens of Wilmington, Delaware, there’s another, to me, horrifying option in the works.

The Homeland Security Charter School.

The planning committee is now searching for a parcel of land upon which to build, so as to educate 600 inner city students (called cadets) in the careers of SWAT (Special Weapons and Tactics), prison guard, water rescue, paramedic, fireman, professional demolition and emergency response operator. In addition to class time, cadets will be required to attend an after school exercise program. I assume they must wedge English, science, and math in there somewhere to meet accreditation.

I find this scary on many levels, the first of which being the stratified social class structure they’re anticipating. Why is this targeted toward kids in minority and lower economic brackets? All these occupations, save perhaps emergency operator, are dangerous professions, and the presumption that poor African-American kids from the urban core are more fit for these jobs than white kids from the ‘burbs is disturbing. Just as the bulk of military recruits come from low-income homes, do we wish to shunt more economically disadvantaged kids into careers in which success means laying their lives on the line?

Another objection is, in the case of the SWAT and prison guard programs, training kids in the use of guns at an age where they’re not even considered adult enough to vote. This normalization of violence is particularly worrisome in a time in which mass murderers have walked the halls of both high schools and colleges. Do teenagers really need to be trained to believe that weapons are just the tools of a trade?

My final objection is funding. Money for education is a zero sum game. If dollars are pulled out to fund this homeland security academy, where is it coming from? What other programs will not be funded to free up resources to pay for this experiment? I’m willing to bet that the cost will not be paid by affluent schools; it’s going to come out of the communities which are already struggling the most. Parents may well be confronted with the choice to either enroll their children in this new charter, or keep them in the schools from which funding has been stolen to finance it. That’s no real choice at all.

I’m not opposed to technical training for high school students. But I draw the line at forcing a choice between funding traditional academics and supporting a student’s wish to learn a trade, and shifting that balance based on the economic status of a student’s neighborhood.

And I do not, under any circumstances, believe that publicly financed educators should be teaching children how to fire a gun. No matter where they live.

Via The Delaware Business Ledger