|
Comment on this article |
Email this Article
|
|
News :: Miscellaneous |
|
A Charter School? What's Up WithThat? |
Current rating: 0 |
by Nathaniel Banks
Email: nbanks (nospam) soltec.net (unverified!)
Phone: 217-359-9784
Address: 6 The Heather, Champaign, IL 61820 |
11 Jan 2002
|
|
A personal reflection on the reasoning behind an effort to establish a K-8 Charter school in Champaign-Urbana |
I was asked to write a piece on the Champaign Urbana Charter School Initiative. In thinking about what to say, it occurred to me that the charter school initiative is in some ways a personal chronicle of my thoughts and experiences over the past forty some years of the struggle for equity in education. So, rather than spending a lot of time with facts, figures and statistics about the charter school movement, I thought that it would be more instructive to understand how the idea of charters began to have relevance to me as an individual. So, after a few brief remarks on the nuts and bolts of charters in Illinois, most of this piece will be reflections on how charters in Champaign Urbana came to be presented.
First the nuts and bolts. Charter Schools in Illinois are public schools of choice, selected by students and parents for innovative educational programs. They are designed to address specific identified needs, but they are open to any pupil in the district. They are not designed to replace public schools but to enhance the educational opportunities available. They are more flexible because they are exempt from state laws regarding hiring policies and program design. They also have their own governing Boards. They must meet state goals and standards and health and safety requirements. Charters are granted through negotiation with local school districts followed by approval of the Illinois State Board of Education. If the local school district turns down a proposed charter, the charter group can appeal to the state board of education. Charters are funded by the per capita tuition established for each school district by state formula. Charter schools would receive the per capita tuition for each student enrolled. Fundraising for the rest of the budget is a necessity. The State of Illinois has legislatively mandated that there are 45 potential charters: 15 in Chicago, 15 in the collar counties and 15 downstate. Currently there are four schools chartered downstate.
The Charter School proposed in Champaign-Urbana is promoting an educational program which will focus on four areas: high family involvement where the family is partner rather than observer in the education of their children; a curriculum that is culturally relevant to the children; heavy community involvement in the educational process; and high student academic achievement.
The Champaign Urbana Charter School Initiative is a committee/task force comprised of individuals in the local community who have an interest in substantially altering the educational environment in the Champaign and Urbana Schools so that high achievement for all students- but particularly students of African descent-is a top priority. The committee has been working for the past 3-˝ years toward promoting the establishment of a charter school that will make a major contribution in this effort.
The CUCSI committee actually began as one of the pilot Study Circle groups initiated by the Human Relations Office of the City of Champaign. The concept behind Study Circles is to bring together small groups of citizens from diverse backgrounds to discus issues of concern and importance to the local community. The purpose of such discussions is to identify problems in the local community and then develop plans of action to address and solve those problems. The major theme and focus of the city of Champaign Study Circles pilot groups was to address issues of racial inequities in the community. During the eight-week session, the entire gamut of racial issues was discussed. Inevitably, issues of race must speak to economic disadvantages imposed upon the black community by the local and national society. It was agreed that economic self-sufficiency was a way of combating racial inequities, and that obtaining economic self-sufficiency required a strong educational foundation. Much of the discussion was centered on the systemic inequities faced by students of color in the local schools. Several of the discussants were either educators or former educators.
As one of the participants in the Study Circle, I challenged the group to resist being yet one more exercise in futility where people come together, talk, and change nothing about the conditions of which they speak. The group agreed that one of the best ways to change in meaningful ways the “disadvantaged status of black people in Champaign was through the educational system. The group also agreed that the system itself, in its current state, was not designed nor did it lend itself to the growth and development and high achievement of black children. Alternatives to the current status quo would have to be pursued for meaningful change to take place.
During our sessions, I related my experiences as a life-long resident of Champaign and a product of the school system. I spoke of related how the system itself was responsible for maintaining a societal assumption that black children were not expected to learn; that they cannot and should not achieve on the same level as white children. Since one of the primary purposes of schools is to “socialize” children in the roles that they are to play in the society, the system of schools reflects those societal racial assumptions. I related that, on the level of the child, a hatred of self, school, and authority was fostered in the local educational system. My experiences subsequent to becoming an adult and working with children and parents in the school system led me to believe that my childhood experiences with the educational system were still a reality for many black families currently. My past experiences with the local schools caused me to look for alternative ways for his own children to be educated, so that their natural love of learning would not be crushed in the same manner that I had experienced. This desire to give my family a better experience led me to be involved with home schooling and Christian education. One of the greatest practical lessons I learned win the process was that the ultimate responsibility for the education of my children belonged to my wife and me, not the State of Illinois. Therefore, I needed to configure my life and work so that they centered on my children’s needs. My own experiences eventually led me to become a Principal of Judah Christian School, and a Director of Project Upward Bound at the University of Illinois. From experiences I made a few observations regarding the role of education and educators in the lives of children and their families. First, the ultimate unit responsible for the well being of children is the family. Second, schools are to service the needs of their constituent families, not vice-versa. Third, children learn best when there is strong cooperation between the school and the home. Fourth, most families want the best for their children even if they do not have the wherewithal to insure that their children receive the “best” education possible. Fifth, for people of African Descent, education is still the best way to move out of poverty and into the middle class. Sixth, a community with a strong middle class is much more able to address its own needs and aspirations, and actually contributes to the betterment of the society as a whole. And lastly, a community, which allows others to be in control over the education of its children, will always be at a distinct disadvantage and dependent on either the fleeting benevolence, or the lingering indifference of those with the power but not the will to meet the needs of our children. The first six of the above observations have lead to the seventh conclusion that the community of African Americans and those with good will towards African American development must come together to develop a completely different paradigm when it comes to the education of our children. The current paradigm was designed to benefit the white and privileged. The current resources available are inaccessible to the black community because we do not control them. Those resources and power kept by the current paradigm are in the hands of those in positions of power and control of the current school system. They exercise authority over financial resources that are allocated by counting the heads of all of the children in the district, including the Black and poor. However, they are very selective when meeting the educational needs across the district. Thus the achievement gap remains. This paradigm works against the interest of the children that the money is supposed to serve.
Jesse Jackson some time ago was quoted as saying that the black community had no permanent friends or enemies, just permanent interest. Although the saying is true, I am unsure as to whether or not the Black community has actually determined what our permanent interests are. From my perspective, there should be a loud outcry from the community and Jesse, and other groups and leaders to make sure that the issue of correcting educational inequity, which promotes continued poverty, is placed as a top priority. This I submit is our greatest challenge and is the ONLY reason I have an interest in the pursuit of a charter school.
My past experiences in the private school arena have led me to realize that schools can be established and run on a lot less money than the school districts have at their disposal. The overwhelming majority of resources for schools are expended in two major areas: staff and an adequate facility. Black children currently attend one of the richer school systems in the state of Illinois, but yet among all of the wealth and resources, our achievement levels are those of inner city Chicago schools. Money is definitely needed for educational programs that exist outside of the current system. However, money is not what closes the achievement gap. It is the simple formula of encouraging and facilitating the cooperation among competent, respectful and caring teachers (with lots of energy), students and their families (with a willingness to become a partner in the educational process). When the school and the family work together for a common purpose, academic achievement is the inevitable outcome. This formula has worked time and time again in the “private school” arena. It has also worked well in the rarely heralded black alternative school arena, as well as some black public schools that have been inadvertently left alone by the system to address the educational and social needs of their students.
Which brings me back to the reason I got involved in the Charter school Initiative. Charters are, in essence, a hybrid of the public and private alternative school systems. Because they are public schools, they have access to RESOURCES so that they can do the job of bringing competent educators with families who want their children to succeed. They are freed from some of the state laws and local educational hierarchy so that they can focus soley on solving the problems of at-risk children. For this same reason, they are not subject to teachers’ union issues. They also have their own boards of directors with fiduciary responsibility for the school. When they occasionally have staff members that should not be teaching children, they have the ability to get rid of those staff members rather than having incompetent or mean spirited teachers moved from one location to another. Most importantly, the Board of Directors will reflect and have the interest of the population of people who will send their children to the school.
One of the biggest criticisms of our proposed school is that, programmatically, it is not different from what already exists somewhere in the local school districts. In terms of curriculum, and stated intent this is true. However, our school will be vastly different from the system in two major ways: ALL of the teachers and staff will have an affinity for the children and parents they are charged to serve. And the teaching staff will assume (contrary to the reality of the local schools) that black children can and will learn and achieve on high levels. These two “intangibles” are given lip service in the local school systems, but will be the daily reality in the proposed charter school. Curriculum is important, but educators already know the techniques that will insure greater success for black children. Are those techniques being used currently? Perhaps in some cases, but not enough to effect the system itself.
Regrettably, I do not see the above intangibles being meaningfully addressed by the local schools in the near or distant future. All of the equity audits and climate surveys indicate that at least half if not more of teachers and parents in the current system believe that the current system is doing an admirable job and does not need major changes. For this reason, a charter school is not only a good idea, it is the only idea with potential to address a problem that could and should have been addressed long ago. From my perspective, the public school system has been misusing and ignoring the interest of the black community for such a long period of time that it astounds me why we are trying to maintain a system that has not worked for us.
Unfortunately, those who may have been allies of the black community in the past see charters as a threat because they potentially undermine the public school system. From a logical perspective, this will not happen because the law has been written in such a way that charters in Illinois will always be marginal to the current system (only 15 are allowed in downstate Illinois). What then, are the unions, school districts, major civil rights groups etc. afraid of? I think that, on the part of school systems, the fear comes from the potential success of the charters. If they succeed with the same children that the current system routinely fails, then the efficacy of the system will be called into question. I contend that we are long past the need for calling the system into question. It works the way that it was designed to work: socializing the next generation to take its properly assigned role. For too many in the Black community, that role is one of being relegated to the margins of the society. It is that purpose that works against the best interest of the African American community. My experiences with the charter school initiative have shown me that there are people of good will genuinely interested in helping to address this issue. They come from diverse walks of life and political persuasions. It is my responsibility, however, to inform them of how they can assist me as a member of the disaffected community to deal with these issues. When it comes to changing the paradigm contributing to the achievement gap, my community must look outside of the box, because that is where, for better or worse, too many of us live.
|
