When 7-year-old Brianna Hill broke her arm last week on the playground of her school, Sarah J. Webber Media Arts Academy, officials did not call 9-1-1, but instead tried to contact people on her emergency list. To make matters worse, once they discovered they had no ice to put on the injury, they used ice cream sandwiches instead. "They should have immediately called 911. What if she was going into shock? What if she could have had a concussion?” Shatia Hill, Brianna's mother, told Fox Detroit. “Brain damage could have been done and they're just sitting there, calling people on the phone."

According to the Mayo Clinic, a simple break may be treated with a sling, ice, and rest, though a more complicated broken arm may require surgery to realign the bone and to implant wires, plates, nails, or screws into the bone to maintain proper alignment while it heals. In cases where part of the bone protrudes through the skin, prompt treatment is critical as it may be exposed to germs that can cause infection.

While Brianna waited, she suffered great pain. "I was trying to jump to the bar on the monkey bars but I slipped and fell," Brianna told Fox Detroit. Brianna's aunt, contacted by the school, eventually picked her up and took her to the hospital.

"I have no idea why they thought that was acceptable. When I call the school, they're like, 'Oh I wasn't there.' Everyone wants to throw each other under the bus instead of taking responsibility," said Shatia, adding that she will be looking into another school for Brianna.

Are Charter Schools The Better Choice?

Michigan is home to 298 public charter schools — publicly funded schools that operate privately — including 34 new schools, which opened just this fall. Among these new charter schools is Sarah J. Webber Media Arts Academy, which hosts grades K-5. Sarah J. Webber school officials hope to enroll and educate at least 315 students in grades K-5, add a grade each year until the academy is transformed into a K-8 school, and then complete grades 9-12 and serve over 1,000 students by 2020. Along with adopting Michigan Content Expectations, K-12 Common Core State Standards, and ACT College Readiness Standards, Sarah J. Webber focuses on providing an education in radio broadcast and video production.

Stanford University’s National Charter School Study 2013 examined student performance in charter schools across 26 states and New York City (though the city is treated separately in the study). The researchers found that 25 percent of the charter school students showed significantly stronger learning gains in reading than their public school peers, while 56 percent showed no significant difference, and 19 percent showed significantly weaker learning gains. In mathematics, 29 percent of charter school students showed significantly stronger gains, 40 percent showed equal gains, and 31 percent showed significantly weaker gains.

Charter schools serve approximately four percent of the nation’s public school students. With more than 6,000 charter schools in 41 states, they now are responsible for educating 2.3 million students.