'Ridiculous' and Unfruitful Polarizing (By Dr. Cindy Petersen)

(Repost of Blog entry By Dr. Cindy Petersen of Gateway Community Charters, a fellow PUBLIC school choice advocate!  Great post and an accurate assessment of what is going on today.)

On Thursday of this week while attending the ACSA Leadership Summit in San Diego, I had the opportunity to listen to research professor and writer Diane Ravitch. While I can admire her intellect and her willingness to stand up for what she believes, I must say it was a difficult listen. Speakers, researchers and writers are often theorists and observers, not practitioners. They have a motivation to be sensational and to over dramatize in order to create overboard generalizations and to accentuate their point. I was disappointed that Dr. Ravitch fit into this category. Tallying up her over emphasized use of the words ‘this is ridiculous’ kept me busy though not entertained. When will we learn that polarization will not provide answers? When have ‘us’ vs. ‘they’ helped create anything valuable? As a charter school operator I agree that Waiting for Superman is entertaining and mostly one-sided, but I think that was their stated intent – to show a view of the parents and students wanting the best possible chance at success through a quality education program – and the fact that in some areas not all children have that choice. (Note: they had tried to include at least one high achieving traditional public school but were denied access). Is it then any less one-sided for Dr. Ravitch to then badmouth all charters as being the downfall of the public school system? To have her suggest that all charter schools ‘skim or cream’ students? To use extreme cases such as a story of a charter school where the education cost per child is $35,000 annually? To speak only in terms of privatization - the destruction of the public school system and corporations taking over school systems? These examples don’t in any way speak to the breadth of what is happening in charter schools across the United States.

Parents in communities like Harlem can’t wait for the traditional public school system to find a way to create quality school choice. Their children’s time to be educated is now and their chance to gain the academic outcomes that predicate life success is slowly passing by - one public school school day at a time. Parents everywhere, Harlem or Sacramento, want better schools for their children, better opportunities. Charter schools can be part of the answer and help create a portfolio of options that ensure that all students have access to a quality education. Charter schools are not the demise of the public school system. But they are and continue to be a leveraging point to create dialogue, reform, choice, impetus to initiate change and the ability to provide a quality education for many.

My opinion and I welcome yours as well is that regardless whether a school is labeled a charter school or a traditional district school, I suggest that we focus on creating solutions rather than polarizing speeches. Each moment that goes by more and more children are losing their time/their chance to have a quality education while adults create arguments and dissent.

California needs more charter schools (Bonsteel repost)

(RePosting this article from the SF Examiner)

California needs more charter schools
by Alan Bonsteel

Friday, September 17, 2010

The California Department of Education issued a news release Monday touting 10 years of uninterrupted progress on the Academic Performance Index. By contrast, on the test that researchers use to evaluate real performance, the National Assessment of Educational Progress, California students' scores have been flat during that same time.

Why the big difference? The main test on which the API is based, the STAR, has never been secure, and teachers can teach to the exact questions on it, or even hand out the correct answers in test sessions that are not proctored by outside authorities. By contrast, the NAEP is a secure test, and because it carries no financial incentives, there is no motivation to game the system.

Through a lucky coincidence, the Education Department released the phony API scores on the same day that the latest issue of Time magazine hit the newsstands with a cover story on the new film "Waiting for Superman." This gripping three-handkerchief drama is about the lives of five minority families and their quest to escape violence-ridden public schools and enroll their children in charter schools, the public schools of choice that are the one shining light in our otherwise broken public education system. Davis Guggenheim, who helped Al Gore win a Nobel Prize by directing "An Inconvenient Truth," is watching this, his latest film, rapidly turning into the symbol of the high school graduation movement that Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech was to a previous civil rights movement.

In the same section of Time magazine as the film review, an opinion poll documented that 67 percent of Americans correctly identified our public schools as being "in crisis."

The speed of the consensus forming around school choice is breathtaking. About six months ago, for example, the New York Times made a startling U-turn and began singing the praises of charter schools. In June, the Times ran a cover story on Locke High School in Los Angeles, once decried as the state's worst and most violent, and now completely turned around only two years after being taken over by Green Dot charter schools. The new Locke Charter School boasts a safe campus, dramatically reduced dropout rates and Superman status in the hearts of the families it serves.

In a few short weeks, we vote in nationwide elections. We must make sure that at every debate, in every radio talk show and at every service club appearance, every candidate will be asked if we can count on him or her to support the right of all families to a quality school that they have freely chosen. The crusade for school choice is, indeed, the civil rights movement of our generation, and the most crucial battle of our time.

Alan Bonsteel is the president of California Parents for Educational Choice. To learn more, go to www.cpeconline.org.
This article appeared on page A - 12 of the San Francisco Chronicle
 http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2010/09/16/EDG61FEOJQ.DTL

Overview of School Choice in Central California

With the expansion of open enrollment policies and the growth of the charter school movement, competition to get into public schools with good reputations has become fierce.  This Blog is under development by Central California educators who are leaders and advocates in the School Choice Movement.  This post is an introduction to school choice today and future posts and content will include specific issues that are of importance to parents that are engaged in the process of choosing a school for their child.  While the geographic focus for the blog will be Central California, the themes and topics are likely to be of interest to all parents considering their school choice options.

Understanding some of the "School Choice" basics:

No matter of how simple or complicated, competitive or not, your district's system is, there are some basic strategies that can be applied to help your child get into the school that is best for him or her. 

Avoid Herd Mentality
In California, it is a good idea for parents to look at a school's API scores as a measure of how well students achieve, but that is only part of the picture of a school.  You need to visit the school and sit in on classes.  Talk to the staff, ask specific questions such as:

• What are the school’s goals? (this is where you probe beyond API score, yes achievement scores are good but what else does the school aim to achieve...  Dual Language, Arts, Technology, Music, etc...)
• Is the school meeting its goals?  How do you know it is or isn't meeting its goals?
• What does the school expect from every student?
• Is the school doing better academically that the district school my child would attend?
• How long has the school been open?
• Do you think the school’s charter will be renewed? Why?
• How do parents know if the school is doing well?
• How will the charter school help my child to succeed?
• What role do parents play at the school?
• How long is the school day? The school year?
• How many students are in each class?

Don't Miss Deadlines or "Mess Up"
Don't lose out because of missed deadlines or incomplete paper work. Bryan Hassel, author of The Picky Parent Guide, cautions, "If it truly is a purely mechanical system, such as a lottery, then the most important strategy is to make sure that you get things in on time. Don't mess up. Don't mess up is one of those basic technical requirements."  Even after you've gotten your child into the school, complete all the steps.

New Schools
Public schools often create small academies within larger schools, or new public, charter or private schools are opened, after the regular enrollment process is over. These schools sometimes have seats available for months before word spreads. Check with your district for more information about new public and charter schools.  Use caution when selecting new schools, you will have to do more homework.

Information From the Right Source
Make sure you get information from the correct source, which is the often a district office or the administrator of the charter school or private school you wish to attend.

Apply to More Than One Program at a School
"Some larger schools have several programs-such as one in art, or one in government," says Wheaton of Insideschools.org. "So if that's the school you want to go to, apply to all the programs, because once you get in you can transfer to the program you really want."

Connect directly with the School
"One tip, even for the public school system, is to write a cover letter to the school that really zeros in on what we call your child's fit with the school," says Hassel.  While many schools have a lottery process, this type of connection with the school ensures that you will be a part of that process and in the event that there is room in the school you have already begun to build a relationship with the school.

Schools That Require Special Admissions Procedures
Some schools require auditions or portfolios of past work for admission. If you feel that your child has a special talent or a strong interest in a particular field, preparing for these schools will create more options for your child.

Review all Preferences that Apply
"Find out what kinds of preferences are built into the system," says Hassel, "and make sure that you're taking advantage of those that apply to you, such as sibling preferences and neighborhood preferences.

Interdistrict/Intradistrict Transfer
In California, you can legally apply for a transfer to a district in which you work, regardless of whether you live in that district. The district must consider your request, although they do not have to admit you if there are no seats available. Knowing the rules of district transfers might allow you to place your child in a school in a better district, however it probably won't help you land a spot in an oversubscribed school.