Here is Kayte Youngs wonderful statement from the charter board hearing: My Name is Kayte Young, I am the parent of a 2nd grader at Templeton Elementary. There are powerful forces at work at the national and the state level, aimed at undermining public education, starting with No Child Left Behind, and continuing, in earnest with Race to the Top. At the state level these forces take the form of high stakes standardized testing, voucher programs, and school take-over mechanisms. These forces are disguised as reform. They are disguised as accountability. They are disguised as standards. They are disguised as choice-in the form of charter schools or vouchers for private schools. The disguises are very effective. So much so that very smart people in our community, folks who care deeply about justice and equality, are often fooled by them. I do not for a second believe that the good folks putting together this thoughtful proposal for a charter school are interested in undermining public education. After all, they are not proposing a private school, they are proposing a “public charter,” a school that would be a part of the public school system, available to students in the public school system. Unfortunately, charters schools, even those as lovely as Green, are playing a role in the incremental demise of our public schools, and that is the reason I am against this proposal. Charter schools, no matter what the intensions behind them, are never as accessible as regular public schools. They may, in theory, be open to all students, but realistically, those who cannot provide their own transportation won’t be able to enroll, and as Diane Ravitch points out “…Even the lottery system, while seemingly fair, is a selection mechanism, since the least functional families seldom take the steps necessary to enter.” Furthermore, charter schools take funding from the existing public schools, funding that is already severely lacking. If we agree that our existing public schools are not meeting the needs of the students, due to lack of funding, the emphasis on high stakes testing, lack of sufficient outdoor play, or rigid, uninspired curricula, then why not choose to put your efforts into changing that, into improving the schools we already have, for the benefit of all children? Our schools need your talents, your insights and your time. Our school board needs to hear your voice, our school board needs you on it! Seriously, if you have the patience and where-with-all to navigate all the tedious bureaucracy required to establish a new school, we could sure use you in the public school system-- guiding local policy and fighting for change at the state level. And we could use your creativity and vision for educating the whole child, even the inside our classrooms. All of the children in our school system deserve this holistic approach. In my child’s classroom at Templeton, parents and community members are invited to regularly share their skills, talents and interests with the students ranging from age 6 to age 12. Whether it’s weaving, origami, understanding the legislative process, story telling, vegetable gardening or computer programing--parent and community involvement is a great place to start towards making our existing schools what we dream of them becoming. It saddens me to see the most engaged families opt out of our existing schools, because we need you! I would love to send my child to a school like Green, I would love to send him to the local Montessori school, but I recognize that what is at stake is much larger than what I might wish for my own child. It’s about what kind of world I want to live in, what kind of world I want my child to live in. I want good schools for ALL children, and I’ll spend my time working for change in our existing schools, for those who don’t have the luxury to do so.
Posted on: Fri, 28 Mar 2014 15:25:51 +0000
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