Charter schools built on freedom of choice (Opinion Letters To The Editor by Kendall Massett Executive Director of Delaware Charter Schools Network)
The freedom granted to charter schools is what allows parents and students the opportunity to choose the educational model that best meets each student’s needs. But it’s this same autonomy that requires hard work, tireless perseverance, and the ability to learn from experience. The road isn’t always a smooth one, but our charter leaders, educators, and staff are in it for the long haul.
I think this part of her letter says it all. No cheap shot at the unions and no kiss ass comments referring to Governor Markell, Arne Duncan, Race to The Top, Vison 2015, Rodel and the great divider Skipper! It all comes down to “choice”! Now the queen should work on leveling the playing field and eliminate the admission barriers to charter schools that hinders fair and equitable education. Open admissions for all charter schools with a transparent lottery process will help to level the field.
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“To achieve these results, our schools stand for a set of principles: to performance-based accountability centered on student achievement, to fiscal responsibility, to responsible governance, and to charter community support. ”
Responsible Governance? Pencader? Really?
@john
Come on John. You know the counter argument. NCS.
And to think; I’ve seen you claim you are not hostile to charter schools. Where do you think folks get that impression?
Pencader CAN (and might) go belly up. THAT is precisely the discipline mechanism your schools lack.
“Competition” is often a smug and dishonest argument for charters, meaning that cherry-picking charters should compete against all-inclusive traditional public schools. And if the traditional school fails – “oh well.”
But if we are to have charters, competition also means that failing charters need to be cut loose with little hesitation.
“Pencader CAN (and might) go belly up. THAT is precisely the discipline mechanism your schools lack.”
Public schools close all the time. You just need to look at a longer timeframe. Also, there are public schools that are half-full, with the rest of the building converted to some other use. Even though the building still stands, I bet it feels like “belly up” discipline to the employees who were let go, or to those who fear the same thing might happen to them.
@NCS come on? What, should we give the Charter Network Director a pass on her brazen and direct support of “Dr.” Ann Lewis? Just pointing out the hypocrisy inherent in her statement.
As for my hostility, I got my action item to act an an authorizer placed on the August Board meeting agenda at our meeting last night. I will vigorously pursue a unanimous approval of the item next month,.
John, can you at least acknowledge schools like Prestige and Kuumba, who were both mentioned in the article and agree that, they must be doin somethin right’ ! What is it, in your opinion, that it might be, that those two schools are doing right?
As far as your last two sentences, suspicious to me, feels like there must be a catch.. you seem pretty hostile towards charter schools in general, in my opinion
Prestige and Kuumba, who were both mentioned in the article and agree that, they must be doin somethin right’ ! What is it, in your opinion, that it might be, that those two schools are doing right?
Ms. Massett supplied her answers to that question in her letter. She said, in part:
The phrase “performance-based accountability” was interesting. Are low-performing students leaving or being counselled out? There are some indications, but not necessarily conclusive.
I took a quick look at Kuumba, and it looks like they are shedding students as they progress through grades 1-5. Here are some numbers from the DE school profiles site:
(Enrollment numbers from 1st through 5th grade from left to right)
Class of 2010: 52, 45, 47, 41, 34
Class of 2011: 51, 36, 34, 39, 36
Class of 2012: 45, 43, 47, 46, 39
In other words, the Kuumba Class of 2010 started first grade with 52 students, but by fifth grade ended up with 34.
The Class of 2011 started with 51 and ended with 36.
The Class of 2012 started with 45 and ended with 39.
The profiles site also shows that a fair number of students are being held back in the early grades with promotion rates in the 90+% range, but by 4th and 5th grade the promotion rates are 100%. And the enrollment numbers seem to show some of these students that are held back aren’t making it to fifth grade at Kuumba. So there seems to be at least the appearance that low-performing students are leaving or perhaps being counselled out, which would offer some explanation for the high performance at the school.
When I get a chance I’ll run the same numbers for Prestige.
I can easily acknowledge multiple charter schools are doing great things for their students Prestige, Kuumba, Edison, CSW, NCS just to name a few.
That is not the question, and never has been for me. The law provides for charters to be part of a public schooling system that is additive to the whole system, not just those within and to the exclusion of those without. Unfortunately, charter schools have their blinded acolytes, several whom are regular commenters here who disregard the whole system effect and offer simplistic,market based competition and choice arguments that almost always err on the side of only those within the system. They are at the ready to dismiss that all DE public school system students deserve access, equity of access, fantastic curricula, and a great educational experience.
I find those arguments facile and often simply convenient. On this point we will never agree (me and them). I was elected to represent the public school system of Christina. If we can find a charter solution that adds value to all of CSDs kids, I am 100% in favor. I’ve never been anything less.
What continues to be debated about charters is that they highlight what parents want for their kids. Sometimes it’s academics, sometimes cultural, sometimes type of training (i.e.: military), etc but by the nature of the individual charter the opinion to make them “open access” and “unlimited capacity” is not a reasonable, logical or attainable opinion. If you want a culturally specific school (latino/ spanish speaking) then you won’t have what some here have labled the “appropriate” diversity. If you want a military type training then the students and parents have to accept that theme and accept that some may be counselled out if they are unwilling to adapt to that. Yet there are those here claiming that is inappropriate. The same can be applied to academic rigor. If you want a science and business theme with HIGH academic rigor, then students and parents must be willing to accept that some individuals may not be suited to that and will need to find what suits THEM.
It would be great if the public schools could have more Cambridge type programs. They don’t. It would be great if public schools didn’t have the discipline problems they have. They do. It would be great if academic performance was actually rewarded in many public schools. It isn’t. Keene Elementary barely has a grading scheme and they want that to extend all the way up 5th grade. It would be great if NCC would consolidate the school districts to elminate bussing and provide Wilmington with it’s own district that was asked for by Wilmingtonians.
All these arguments about exclusion, diversity, cherry picking, etc are deflections from the core problems. The schools have NOT provided what they are supposed to provide. Is Kumba ethnically diverse, will a Spanish Speaking school be diverse, would an “at risk” school be diverse? Of course not, but their politically correct and therefore palatable to some.
@John, yes all students deserve access to good public schools. When good public schools are the norm, then you’ll see all those “cherry picking”, “exclusionary”, “racist”, “pick your inappropriate adjective” parents come back. NO ONE wants to pay for a private education. Not when the State is already taking their money for an education system unresponsive to the needs of the majority.
But is it right that the “highlighting” should be done on the public dime? If you want to send your child to an all girls or all boys school, or one that is almost 100% African American or demonstrably more white than the community it is in, shouldn’t those all be private endeavors?
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