From the beginning, legislators imagined charter schools would be schools of hope for millions of students who were not living up to their potential in conventional public schools.
While today's political debates go on and on about the utility of allowing educators and parents to get a charter from the state to open schools for students that need them, we should make a note of the many charters that are living up to the promise of being a safe harbor for young people.
That's what I saw last year when I visited Magic City Acceptance Academy in Homewood, Alabama. It's an experience I won't forget.
It's a sizeable building with lots of natural sunlight, tall ceilings, colorful furniture, and buoyant students laughing in clusters from space to space.
You would never know that these same kids would be miserable if assigned to their nearest public school.
MCAA is doing what a charter should do. It's solving a perplexing educational problem that larger conventional schools struggle to do: create a safe and affirming space for students who are socially marginalized by peers and adults so much that they fear attending school each day.
A national survey of the emotional health of youth reveals the secret pain that LGBTQ+ students carry with them each day as students.
There is a striking difference in happiness between middle and high school students who do not identify as LGBTQ+ and those that do. For example, 35% of LGBTQ+ middle and high schoolers stated they were happy with their lives, whereas 70% and 61% of their non-LGBTQ+ peers reported the same.
Additionally, the survey finds the following:
The overall percentage of secondary students who identify "getting picked on or bullied" as an obstacle to learning drops from grades six through twelve; however, LGBTQ+ middle and high school students report double the percentage of their peers that bullying impedes learning.
At the high school level, 17% of non-binary students reported that bullying significantly impacted learning, compared to 8% overall.
Middle school proved to be even more challenging - with reports that LGBTQ+ students and non-binary students experienced bullying as an obstacle to learning at a significantly higher rate. The latter group experienced it most acutely, with 34% reporting this issue.
Fewer than half of secondary students, regardless of grade level, gender, race, or LGBTQ+ status, report that they have an adult at school they can talk to when they feel upset, stressed, or have a problem.
MCAA bravely centers and serves LGBTQ+ students in a state where the Governor and other high-level elected officials have openly stoked discrimination against these students and their families.
According to AL.com, the Alabama State Department of Education does not have policies or supports to protect LGBTQ students, according to officials. In addition, there is no professional development training for teachers and staff on supporting this population.
School districts can decide to implement their policies. Still, only 3% of LGBTQ students reported being in a school with a comprehensive bullying policy, and only 4% were in schools with trans or non-binary student policies, says GLSEN's report.
In response, the Magic City Acceptance Center, the community-based organization that sponsors MCCA, provides training for educators that teaches the basics of gender expression and identity.
Unfortunately, only four institutions have taken part over the past five years.
Raising stories like this is vital because there is so much discussion about charter schools that ignores the good they do for the students they serve.
************
You can see full video profiling MCAA on YouTube.
A charter to save lives and build dreams