VERBATIM: Charter school week and stuff
Just random pieces of my weekly dream
Hello, Good People!
I’ve been on the road for the past few days, so I haven’t been able to celebrate Charter Schools Week (I’ll come back to that).
I left on Sunday—yes, Mother’s Day—and headed to Groton, Massachusetts. I stayed at the nicest hotel in the area, which I’m sure was haunted.
This is the place:
The trip there was to speak with Boston College students who had read my Huffington Post article from 2022 and wanted to discuss it. Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to do that because they had final presentations to give at the end of their semester.
This story about my visit to see these students has an M. Night Shyamalan-worthy plot twist; you can read it here.
From there, I went to Boston and got a glimpse of the work Ed Navigator is doing to support families referred by pediatricians. I have too little space to do it justice here, but the navigators are like concierges and problem solvers who help parents make school enrollment decisions, locate important services, and navigate special education issues. I’m a board member, but I’m also a big fan of their great model. While the rest of us pursued an ed reform movement for years, these folks quietly started a little education support movement.
On another note, yesterday was the 10th anniversary of Ed Post. I’m so proud of the organization founded by Peter Cunningham in the days of bipartisan consensus on the need for progress in public education. Peter’s idea was that if we could have better conversations it would lead to better education. And by better, he meant including more voices that weren’t being heard - specifically, voices of marginalized families. He made good on that brand promise. We’ve launched many influencers, organizations, and projects incubated under our umbrella. We’ve published thousands of stories by and about educators, students, and parents. And we’ve amplified the research from partners who contribute to public understanding of the most important education issues.
I was Ed Post's fourth and fifth employee, and today, I lead the organization. Every day, I am thankful for Peter's investment in me and for all the interesting and earnest people I’ve met. It is truly dream work.
Peter joined our new Always Learning podcast to discuss the history of Ed Post and how things have changed since its founding:
See it here:
Now, back to charter school week. It’s fair to say I’m a charter school booster, a true believer in the power of autonomous public schools. Conventional schools serve many children well, but not all of them. Charter schools fill a needed gap for public school parents who want an alternative education pathway without having to leave the public education system.
It’s sad that these schools need defending, but they are constantly under attack by teachers’ unions and their progressive allies. It’s all too fashionable for progressive-aligned journalists to recycle tired claims about charters. While I agree with them on many issues, not this one.
There was a time in my life when I needed a charter for one of my kids. It was personal, not political, and critical, not casual.
I can show you charters that serve every kid with various needs. Schools focused on autism or special education. Schools that are a haven for LGBTQ students and others who are bullied in district schools. Schools for students who have been out of school for a few years and want to return. Schools for students who can’t sit still or pay attention in old-school classrooms. Schools are for urban parents who want the best shot at getting their kids into college or suburban parents who want curricular choices unavailable in their district.
Above all, schools that are public, free for all, beholden to the enforcement of Civil Rights laws, and accountable for results.
So, you don’t have to celebrate Charter Schools Week. Maybe for you, it’s like National Hot Dog Day. Just don’t hate schools that work for students other than your own.
In keeping with my desire to share the achievement gospels and close the belief gap, I wrote about the Taylor-Schlitz family’s phenomenal success last week.
Here’s an update. Spoiler: another one of their children is breaking records.
In not-so-successful news, there’s a viral video of a commencement announcer who struggled to say the names of graduates properly.
When I read that story, it felt like deja vu. I wondered where I had seen it before.
Here it is:
Get up, stand up
Young people in higher education are making old people mad. They are protesting and disturbing the piece. Some of you have forgotten that this is what college students do. It’s an old practice.
The latest afront happened when graduating students at Virginia Commonwealth University stood up and walked out as Governor Glenn Youngkin began his keynote address. Like other grads disrupting commencement ceremonies in other states, VCU students were protesting to get their school to divest from “Israel and the military-industrial complex.”
A lesser reported reason for VCU’s walkouts is Youngkin’s tampering with the university’s racial literacy requirement proposed by students and faculty after George Floyd’s murder. Youngkin’s administration inserted himself into the school’s business to stop what is said are “thinly veiled attempts to incorporate the progressive left’s groupthink on Virginia’s students.”
Here is a list of course concepts that Youngkin finds unacceptable:
Community-Based Action Research for Education Stakeholders
Disrupting Ageism: An Exploration of Diversity and Aging*
Diversity Issues in Counseling*
Educational Leadership and Civil Rights
History and Health Online Learning Modules
Human Dimensions of Leadership: Empathy, Trust, and Care…
Intergroup Dialogue
Justice and Equity in Visual Arts and Education
Leadership in the “New Demography”: Immigration Theory and Politics
Preparing Diverse Learners from Multicultural and Global Perspectives*
Racial Literacy with Analytics Focus
Representations of Race in Cinema
Student-Centered Policy and Collaboration
Writing about Race
The Culture of Complexion
The Psychology of Race and Racism
Untitled concept: Students watch select episodes of Star Trek, then meet in class as groups to discuss racial literacy concepts based on each episode.
Untitled concept: Broad DEI course that mixes theory discussions presented by social scientists, social justice and human impact issues discussed by humanists, and environmental impacts related to climate change discussed by scientists.
I’m not sure why Youngkin needs these weird anti-diversity political issues. He has some deep-thinking education folks in his cabinet with apolitical insights into improving achievement. They are serious people who aren’t part of the culture war circus. He could lead with that work and be a uniter, but no.
Whereas Florida governor Ron DeSantis positioned himself as “Trump without the baggage,” Youngin did him one better by positioning himself as DeSantis without the misanthropy.
Friendly fascism dressed up in a quarter zip fleece.
What a waste of a telegenic figurehead.
Money for nothing
I got this from the Twitters: The debate about whether or not public money to schools that discriminate against minorities comes into focus with Millersville Christian Academy in North Carolina.
Here’s how that school explains its exclusion of select students:
Millersville Christian Academy is a Christian institution providing an education in a distinct Christian environment, and it believes that its biblical role is to work in conjunction with the home and to mold students to be Christ-like. On those occasions in which the atmosphere or conduct within a particular home is counter to or in opposition to the biblical lifestyle the school teaches, the school reserves the right, within its sole discretion, to refuse admission of an applicant or to discontinue enrollment of a student. This includes, but is not necessarily limited to, living in, condoning, or supporting sexual immorality; homosexual acts or sexual orientation; promoting such practices; or otherwise, the inability to support the moral principles of the school (Leviticus 20:13a, Romans 1:27, Matthew 19:4-6).
That feels a little exclusionary. A little unpublic. Kinda religious.
And, that school got $863,953 in public voucher funds this year, which amounts to tax-funded bigotry.
Puff the magic charter
For the record, I’m not here to support every charter school. I’ll admit when I get it wrong. So, here goes: I vigorously defended the P-Diddy charter school in Harlem, even taking on Chris Emdin online after he critiqued the new school on the Roland Martin show.
Now, there are reports of “chaos” in the school
I was wrong about this school. Like Kanye’s, Elon’s, and WeWork’s foray into education, this one is a mess.
There are several stories that billionaire Bill Gates wants you to know, all driven by science.
Gates says, “At a time when so much is going wrong with the world—wars, inequality, climate change—it’s important to remember what is going right. And that when we make progress in one area, there are almost always beneficial ripple effects.”
What if I told you that one of the stories is about a dating app for cows? I bet you wouldn’t believe me.
Well, check this out:
Nearly 300 million people globally need humanitarian assistance and protection
- OCHA
ICYMI
I wrote last week about the false flag of “safetyism.”
The Citizen Stewart Show focused on how public schools can save themselves
This week’s Freedom Friday show with Sharif El-Mekki covered the real conversation we should have in public education.
Finally, y’all know that I’m a lifelong Prince fan, right? Well, dig, if you will, the picture of staying at his Purple Rain house. You can stay at the kid’s house, hosted by Wendy and Lisa. I’m sure I can’t afford this experience, but wow.
I mean, I cloud sleep here?
Let’s go crazy!
Peace!
Chris