**************************************** From the Chicago Tribune, Monday, April 30, 2001, p. 14. [Editorial]. See http://archive.chicago.tribune.com/@H9ef5315590fa8faccea208e41517fdf6:b=w&tid=c3c2a950545911d595b21c3f5968cc77&domain=dr_Article&fmt=int&it=991158086&expire=993750059&kid=550003.60&ss=env/archive/3/get_doc.pl?DBLIST=ct01&DOCNUM=42735 ; charge of $2.95. **************************************** WHAT CHARTER SCHOOLS TEACH US Five years ago, swept up in a spell of reform, state lawmakers joined a national movement and cleared the way for a limited number of charter schools to open in the state. By so doing, they took a risk -- though not exactly the one they had in mind. Turns out the riskiest thing about charter schools is how no one seems to understand them, even all these years later and with about 2,100 established nationwide over the last decade. Bad information, unfortunately, now stands in the way of two important pieces of legislation under debate in Springfield. One bill would allow Chicago to double the number of possible city charters to 30. The other would permanently fund charters closer to the level taxpayers fund public schools. Charter schools currently do not receive annual funding for facilities, only about $5,000 per pupil for instruction. They are forced to dip into their program funds to pay for building improvements. For Illinois to bring charter schools on par with public schools would require roughly $1,000 more per student, or about $6 million. From a state perspective, this amounts to a teardrop in the bathtub of education funding. From the teachers unions' point of view, this represents competition for their slice of the pie. It's time to regard education more from a student's point of view. What is wrong with giving this innovative approach toward education reform the best chance at succeeding? If it fails to produce better results, there are expedient ways to halt the experiment. But since the nation's first charter school opened in Minnesota, the track record has provided mostly hope. --- So here's a primer. Lesson one: Charters are public schools. They are open to any youngster who applies, including special ed kids. In fact, they often attract kids with discipline problems the regular public schools are happy to see go. If more children apply than there are spaces, as is the case with 70 percent of charter schools across the country, students are chosen by lottery. Lesson two: Because they are free from most district and union regulations, charter schools can hire and fire teachers with flexibility and speed, and make creative curriculum choices. They can offer, for example, incentive pay to teachers who are in high-demand fields, successful at raising test scores or adept at getting parents involved. Lesson three: Charters are accountable -- to everyone. Students take the same standardized tests as those in regular public schools. Sub-par teachers are unlikely to get their annual contracts renewed by the principal. Parents who don't like the school may simply pull their child out. Charter schools also must follow all the building, health and safety laws that every other school in the state must follow. And if the charters fail to teach, like the now-closed Chicago Prep, they get put out of business. Lesson four: Charter schools provide alternatives to neighborhood public schools, yes, but they also are designed to force the traditional schools to innovate on their own. Where many public schools are beholden to entrenched bureaucracy, charter schools wrap themselves around a mission. At Triumphant on the South Side, that mission is discipline; Principal Helen Hawkins asks public schools for their lowest-performing kids because she wants to reach them before they drop out. At Betty Shabazz, the focus is on African-American history. At Young Women's Leadership Charter School, girls are encouraged to succeed in fields where women are underrepresented. Noble Street Charter School is a perfect example of why charters need to be given the same chance at success as regular public schools. The West Town building was constructed for less than $5 million -- half from foundation and private sources, half from a loan. Taxpayers are getting a deal. Once his high school expands to four full grades in two years, Principal Michael Milkie will have to start making $350,000 in annual interest payments on that loan. He would prefer to build a science lab, or a library, or add another floor to the tiny school space. In the meantime, he and the school's 16 teachers improvise with space, scheduling and community resources. If state lawmakers do not pass legislation increasing facilities funding by the time his school doubles its student population, they will have to really improvise -- or accept fewer kids. Every few weeks, kids march down to the public library branch to check out new books for daily literature group. On nice days, they spend study hall reading or shooting basketballs in Eckhart Park three blocks away. The girls' swim team practices at a nearby Chicago Park District pool. Students are bused to gym class at the nearby Lakeshore Athletic Club, where they take spinning, yoga and other classes. The Northwestern University Settlement House, to which the school is connected through its charter and building, provides arts and theater facilities, payroll advice and even Americorps community service workers to help out in a classroom pinch. Instead of investing initially in a library, Milkie and his co-founder and wife, Tonya Hernandez, invested in technology. Mounted on the ceiling of each classroom is a small overhead projector and sound system that hooks into a laptop on each teacher's desk. In Tim Brown's civics class, he used it one day last week to play an Animaniacs song about the 50 states as 20 students learned names of capitals. In Jim O'Connor's biology class, he uses it to display graphics about primates and to access the Internet for a section on evolution. Alvaro del Campo spent 10 years working in a Peruvian rainforest before coming to Noble Street to teach environmental science. Milkie describes him as "a fantastic teacher" who has taken kids to the South Side to look at parakeets and is about to take 15 students on a study trip to Peru. Because he is not certified, however, the public schools never could have hired him. Teachers receive bonuses for high parental involvement, the kind of incentive that most teacher unions steadfastly resist. Their salaries also are set slightly above the Chicago Public Schools pay scale, regardless of whether they hold any kind of advanced degree (which Milkie argues says little about teaching ability.) But they are expected to work long hours; the average day runs from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. They also have far greater input into how the school is run. The philosophy here is that bureaucracy causes burn-out faster than hard work does. "The big difference you see in these schools is a real sense of mission, of a culture, of people working together in a very supportive environment," said Greg Richmond, who oversees charters for the Chicago Public School system. Gisele Gonzalez, 14, says she feels safer and more cared for by teachers at Noble Street, partly because they allow her and other students to stay at school until dinnertime if they want. "The public school I went to, the teachers didn't pay attention if you didn't do your homework." In fact, Noble Street makes it easy for families to pay attention to those details, too. Parents may check their child's progress every day using a special Internet access code that allows them to see updated grades on homework assignments and tests. Students comment about how strict the school is. They have a dress code -- white, blue or maroon polo shirts, khaki pants and no sneakers. (Milkie confides, "Teens need something to rebel against.") Four demerits (or a single chewing gum incident) earns an automatic trip to "Saturday School," where students are required to cough up a symbolic $5 to pay for their teacher's time. When a few students started acting out in the classrooms, Milkie and the teachers decided the teens needed more than just detention. So they quickly shifted budget money to hire a social worker to do a 10-week group session. "It worked so well - -no miracles, but I believe we nipped the problem in the bud - -that we are now doing a second 10-week session," Milkie said. One of the most striking aspects of Noble Street is what's missing: Noise in the hallways between classes. Graffiti. Tardiness. Absenteeism. Rudeness. In fact, all students are trained to greet every visitor with a shake of the hand and a self-introduction. --- The real test with Noble Street and other charter schools will come with time, which will reveal whether achievement scores show sustained progress. A few of the state's 21 charters have had rocky starts. But among the others, the results look promising. Seven of Chicago's 12 charter schools last year performed better than their comparison neighborhood schools in reading and math. The average score for these charters was more than 11 percent higher than the traditional public school. And if there's any doubt that lower and middle income parents are clamoring for more charters, consider these numbers: This year Milkie has 250 students and more than 300 on a waiting list to get in. Charter school principals such as Milkie are forced to spend too much of their time on PR, fund-raising and politics. Their attention would be better spent on preparing the school for the coming year, recruiting excellent teachers and developing curriculum. Liberals and conservatives have come to recognize that, for too long, charter schools have been unfairly treated as the stepchild of public education. But there's an even more important reason why charter schools should be supported both on the state and federal level. They offer a choice to parents who, because of income or geography, have none. Wealthier parents already have alternatives. It's time to level the playing field when it comes to educational opportunity. ---------------------------------- Sidebar: What is wrong with giving this innovative approach toward education reform the best chance at succeeding? ************************************************** -- Jerry P.Becker Department of Curriculum & Instruction Southern Illinois University Carbondale, IL 62901-4610 USA Phone: (618) 453-4241 [O] (618) 457-8903 [H] Fax: (618) 453-4244 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ---------------------------------------------------- This is the CPS Mathematics Teacher Discussion List. To unsubscribe, send a message to <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> For more information: <http://home.sprintmail.com/~mikelach/subscribe.html>. To search the archives: <http://www.mail-archive.com/science%40lists.csi.cps.k12.il.us/>
