Grrrrrr ... Charter Schools, Again

We have a free weekly alternative paper, The Isthmus, which I despise. I tend to pick it up, however, because it has a good calendar of events around town. (For example when I failed to get it a few weeks ago, I missed a concert by Eliza Gilkyson, who is one of my favorite performers.) By and large, the articles piss me off, especially the articles about education. Last week they had an article about a progressive private school, wondering whether our school district should model a charter school on it. I've written before about charter schools and my opposition to them. You can be sure that I seethed all week over this article. Tonight I finally mustered the energy to write a letter to the editor in response, for all the good it will do. Here it is:

To the editor:
I’ve spent the last week thinking about a response to Jason Shepard’s article, Rethinking How Kids Learn. Where do I begin? It continually floors me that so many people in progressive Madison have a blind spot when it comes to charter schools. Can you say “privatization?” Charter schools are back door privatization, if you will. Using public funds to run a school to which students must apply and be admitted: that sounds a lot like the voucher system, doesn’t it? Both Jonathan Kozol and Alfie Kohn -- two passionate advocates for progressive education -- speak equally passionately against school privatization, including charter schools. According to Kozol, not only do they skim resources from public schools, but they skim off the parents who have the time and wherewithal to contribute to their child’s school, leaving many children poorer. Whatever happened to working for the common good?
The dichotomy that Shepard’s article sets up between “progressive” private schools like Wingra and “traditional” public schools is false. Madison Metropolitan School District has 6,288 teachers. Philosophies of education and teaching styles run the gamut, but I would hazard a guess that many of those teachers would identify themselves as being closer to the progressive end of the spectrum. And what if they don’t? My two children have had great experiences in Madison schools, with all kinds of teachers. Furthermore, as a veteran Madison public school teacher myself, and one who believes deeply in and advocates passionately for education that is progressive and child-centered, I am insulted by that dichotomy.
Wingra School can provide things to students that Madison public schools cannot: smaller numbers that make it possible to serve organic meals from Willy Street Co-op, for example. I am also assuming a significant amount of money is available that many public schools simply do not have. Wingra trustee Patrick Sweet’s example of choosing Lombardino’s or L’Etoile [two extremely upscale restaurants] speaks volumes to that. But public schools can provide good experiences that a private school cannot replicate. Trying to compare the two, or implying that Madison is missing the boat by not modeling a school on Wingra is wrong.
The “lack of choices” in Madison that “is sending middle- and upper-class families packing” sounds like another name for white flight. “High needs kids” and kids from “unstable homes” are code words for low income and minority students. I will not deny that there are kids who can be quite disruptive in public schools. As the director of Wingra says, “The reality is, the resources just aren’t there” to adequately meet the needs of all children. However, is the answer then, to create schools which will further deplete resources, or to work together for change; doing away with the revenue caps and requiring businesses to share the property tax burden? (Ironically, the article on outsourcing immediately preceding Shepard’s, brought up the tax revenue issue which is at the heart of Wisconsin schools’ funding crisis.)
I have little quibble with the parents like the one described in the article, who choose a private school when their child is not thriving in the public school. A small number of students have always attended private schools and most seem to offer tuition aid to families that want to attend. What I object to, and will continue to object to with every last breath in my body, is the parents who make that choice, and then want the state to pay for it, either through vouchers or the establishment of charter schools.
Old progressive that I am, I am proud of many aspects of Madison public schools. I think that the fact that charter schools have not caught on here in a big way speaks well of our public schools. I wonder if some of the push for “choices” is coming from newcomers to Madison, who have come here from other cities where the expectation is simply that one’s children will go to a charter or private school. I wish that Jason Shepard would visit and write an in-depth story about a different Madison school each week, instead of going for the sensational soundbite that once again puts Madison Metropolitan School District down.

Whew, glad I got that off my chest. I feel as if I'm a caped crusader for public schools and the idea of "the common good." Destined to always be angry, I guess. And by the way, the most disruptive kid I've ever taught in 21 years was from a very well-to-do family in a very well-to-do school. And he failed to thrive at Wingra School too. Just sayin'.