Charter school parents explain why we need Amendment One
“How can I in good conscience send my child to a school that didn’t even cheat right?”
The question from Shelby McDonald has surely been asked by many an Atlanta parent since rampant cheating on standardized tests was uncovered in the city’s public schools. Only rhetorically, of course, because the answer is: You can’t.
Unlike many of those parents, however, McDonald found a way out: a public charter school approved in 2009 by a state commission. That commission closed after a 2011 court ruling declared it unconstitutional, but it would be re-created if voters approve Amendment One in next month’s election.
“I did everything right. I looked at every [school’s] test score between here and what was driveable,” says McDonald, a widowed mother of one whose parents had pledged to drive her daughter as far as Macon each day if that’s what it took. She tried one charter-school lottery and lost. As a single mother, private school was out of the question.
“I did what I was supposed to do,” she says. “And what did I find out [about the local schools]? Y’all cheated!”
Cheating wasn’t an issue at the elementary school Rich Thompson’s daughter used to attend — at least, he didn’t think it was. But low expectations were.
Thompson was the PTA president at Deerwood Academy in southwest Atlanta when, one spring, he realized things weren’t as good as they seemed.
“We had the normal end-of-the-year Awards Day program,” Thompson recalls. “Pretty much every grade level walked across the stage, and every kid got some kind of a certificate or ribbon or trophy. The principal was patting them on the back, saying what a great job they did.”
Within a few days, however, Thompson came across the Georgia Public Policy Foundation’s 2009 “Report Card for Parents,” which ranks the state’s public schools according to their test scores. Deerwood Academy’s third-graders ranked 940th out of 1,208 schools statewide. Its fifth-graders were 470th out of 1,201.
“I just got livid,” Thompson recalls. “How in the hell can everybody be so happy with our performance when one grade level is in the 900s and one is in the 400s compared with the other schools in the state? …
“There just wasn’t any interest in doing anything beyond getting the public recognition we were getting. And it just wasn’t enough for me.” His daughter now attends an independent, start-up charter school.
It wasn’t long before that public recognition proved even more hollow: Deerwood was one of the first schools implicated in the APS cheating scandal. “It was just a big sham,” Thompson says of all the certificates, ribbons and trophies.
Accolades for his son at a south Fulton school also seemed suspect to Gavin Samms.
“His teacher said, ‘He’s so wonderful. He’s so quiet,’ ” Samms recalls. “But I said, ‘He isn’t learning anything.’ “
His son, Samms says, “kept coming home with the same worksheets of things I taught him two years before.” No one at the school was interested in giving the boy more challenging work, he says.
Samms didn’t just look for another school. He started one: Fulton Leadership Academy, which the erstwhile state commission approved in 2009. Despite its focus on the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and math) and test scores that last year beat both state standards and south Fulton schools’ averages, the Fulton school board denied FLA’s application to keep its charter. The state granted it under provisional authority that is highly questionable in light of the 2011 court ruling.
“They [the Fulton board] said we’re not ‘unique,’ ” Samms says. “It’s an all-boys school. We have STEM, we have an aviation focus. … You must see African-American boys in planes every day, because apparently we’re not unique enough.”
A note to those who think Amendment One is designed to pave the way for a modern white flight from Georgia’s public schools: Like Samms, McDonald and Thompson are black. Charter schools have a higher percentage of minorities or low-income students than traditional public schools, according to the Georgia Charter Schools Association.
They’re also more likely to serve them better, to hear these parents tell it.
– By Kyle Wingfield
RELATED:
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October 25th, 2012
2:31 pm
Tiberius:
Pay “Real Athens” no mind. He is convinced that he is the savior of the racially oppressed and sees racists behind every tree, bush and leaf in the state. Although his status is self-appointed, he takes himself much more seriously than anyone else does.
A psychologist might believe him to be projecting due to his own racist attitudes . . .
bigbill
October 25th, 2012
2:32 pm
Dear Kyle: I am wondering if you might respond to my concern that support for the charter school amendment is not driven by parent concern, as you say in your piece above, but is in fact one more scheme to further the radical right-wing Republican goal of privatizing traditional public schools for the sake of profit. And the out of state (and many in-state) contributors to the astro-turf organization, Families For Better Schools, certainly supports my assertion that the hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions from for- profit education companies and the hard right-wing Republican idealogues who support the elimination of traditional public schools and replacing them with for-profit schools (think Phoenix University – type elementary, middle, and high schools) supports my contention.
More evidence: the Georgia Chamber of Commerce contributed $10,000.00 to the astro-turf (meaning definitely-not-genuine-grass-roots) pro- charter school amendment group, Families For Better Public Schools. Gosh, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, an organization which promotes business interest, business profits, and lobbies incessantly for pro-business issues whenever and wherever it can, now reveals that it is a big supporter of the Georgia charter school amendment. Their motto is: “We believe the state’s economy would best benefit from legislation that allows market force principals to work.” And that apparently applies to public schools because by making this $10,000.00 donation the Chamber aligns itself and its members with all the other business interests which made donations here and plan to profit from the passage of the amendment, namely the for-profit charter school industry, the for-profit private school industry and all the affiliated businesses which work with (and profit from) them. Believe me, this $10,000.00 contributions give lie to the Chamber’s assertions on its web site that it fully supports public schools in Georgia. Baloney! The Chamber doesn’t make move in any direction that is not focused on the profit streams of their members. And, Kyle, I’ll say it again, there are billions of dollars to be made in privatizing public education, billions to be made in “supporting legislation that allows market force principals to work.” And the Georgia Chamber of Commerce knows it. Your response?
mike
October 25th, 2012
2:37 pm
Tiberius: “If the charter school is failing I can fire them.”
Uh-hmmmh! And replace them with what?
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 25th, 2012
2:41 pm
A different charter school Mike.
mike
October 25th, 2012
2:42 pm
Tiberius: “A different charter school Mike.”
Now why didn’t I think of that? Tiberius’ superior intellect is the only thing I can attribute it to!
Real Athens
October 25th, 2012
2:43 pm
Tibby:
All day, everyday, you flame people here with your intolerance and inferior intellect. Then you feign alarm and insult when someone calls you out for what you are:
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/bigot
Your carbon copy isn’t much different.
Grow a pair and get over yourselves.
JKL2
October 25th, 2012
2:44 pm
mike- Now why didn’t I think of that?
Liberals: We only believe in choice if your talking about abortion!
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 25th, 2012
2:49 pm
Prove it with FACTS, Real athens.
Otherwise you’re just another lying lib.
mike
October 25th, 2012
2:52 pm
Uh-oh! Irish ire is rising! (Sung to the tune of Irish Eyes are Smiling!)
curious
October 25th, 2012
2:54 pm
How do we know Charter Schools aren’t cheating? Any oversight planned?
Without oversight/regulation cheating will take place. All you have to do is look at Emory University. The temptation to “fudge” is too much for some.
MotherOfTwo
October 25th, 2012
3:09 pm
Kyle Wingfield
October 25th, 2012
10:22 am
You can’t lump all “local” school systems or boards with a few.
The charter school in Gwinnett (GSMST) is extraordinary; I know for a fact, because my child is a student. The school is diverse, the AP Exam and SAT scores are way above average.
The state didn’t have to force our superintendent or school board to create a high performing charter school; nor should it have a say in if we choose to allow certain charter schools to exist within our mist.
For those who say, that I am selecting the same old things, by choosing local school choice; I would suggest you go over to GSMST and see for yourself. Better yet, talk to the students and see where they are headed in the future.
Real Athens
October 25th, 2012
3:11 pm
Tibby:
Facts? When have you let a fact get in the way of your proclamations and decrees?
You need look for proof no further than the five preceding pages on this blog today.
“Another lying lib”. You slay me.
Real Athens
October 25th, 2012
3:16 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 25th, 2012
11:38 am
and
JKL2
October 25th, 2012
2:44 pm
Original thought? Or same pundit/master?
You decide.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:19 pm
How do we know Charter Schools aren’t cheating?
When you are teaching that Adam and Eve walked with the dinosaurs you don’t really need to worry about cheating. All non-scientific answers are the right answers.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:20 pm
Charter schools that don’t do a good job will go away, because the parents will pull their kids out. The demand for quality education will attract new charters. The government monopoly on public schools produces such poor results that we are forced to have this conversation. If they were getting the job done, we wouldn’t.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:22 pm
I’m afraid we’re going to have to ask for an example of a public charter that is teaching Adam and Eve walked with the dinosaurs, Finn.
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:26 pm
Tiberius walks out and Lil’ Barry walks in. Inquiring minds want to know.
BTW that government monopoly school(s) I attended did a pretty good job with me. But then I did a pretty good job with my schoolwork.
MotherOfTwo
October 25th, 2012
3:26 pm
Kyle,
I also support the people who run my local government, a lot more than, I approve of those who run our state. I can easily attend a school board meeting to vent my concerns; with many of these outside charter systems being run by organization outside of Georgia; I trust them a lot less to deal with my concerns.
Also, if there truly are as many people locally who disapprove of their local school systems/boards. I would think they could have taken over their local schools.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:29 pm
“Finn’s too busy salivating over another Gloria Allred non-event.”
Yeah, tell that to Herman Cain and Meg Whitman. She helped derail both of their campaigns.
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:31 pm
You know what? Let’s just take this to its logical extreme. Let’s just do away with government and all of its institutions. No legislature, no police, no schools, no nothing. Then, you’re on your own. Educate your children the best you know how. And, if you make bad choices like having your job shipped to China, and can’t afford to educate your children, well that’s just too bad. Survival of the fittest. Ayn would be so proud of me.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:32 pm
tell that to Herman Cain and Meg Whitman. She helped derail both of their campaigns.
————————
Where is JDW to decry “that kind of thinking” as the reason for our national decline?
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:35 pm
Why would I educate my own child, when I can take a job that allows me to pay someone to do a better job of it than I can? Should we all grow our own vegetables, mill our own wheat, and tend our own cattle too? That would make zero sense, but then mike previously admitted he’s a product of public schooling.
RAMZAD
October 25th, 2012
3:37 pm
Probably; the most curious variable in the Amendment One controversy is African Americans.
We have a long and sometimes bloody history of distrust for local authority. The local police, zoning board, chamber of commerce, PTA, local judiciary, and local school board. We have never been shy about taking matters to the state or federal constitutional deliberation or administrative adjudication, because we have always felt that local authority was up to no good, and frequently we were right- until this nonsensical switch-aroo.
It does not make sense, because African American children are the most likely to be failed by local public academic systems- smallest SAT scores, smallest graduation rates, smallest amounts of academic scholarships, smallest matriculation to college, most likely to wind up in an alternative school, most likely to be murdered during school pursuits, most likely to graduate to prison, most likely to be a baby momma. You name it and we are going to be distinguished for being the worst at what local public school systems say they do or offer. So; you would think African Americans would want to run to the state for refuge. Not this time!
Selfishness; a treasured classic in our race, is at work here. I will explain. Education is one of the few endeavors where African Americans have a foothold. It it not medicine. We are not regularly doctors. It is not the judiciary. We are not frequently lawyers. It is not science and engineering, because we are not frequently scientists, but every African American alive knows a black teacher or school administrator. The public school house is an African American preserve.
So, in order to stay on this preserve African Americans will go to the mat for this local control we always abhor- this time. It is not concern for our students. We were willing to cheat our own out of an education to keep our rank in and our checks from the school house. So, for African Americans, this has nothing to do with the quality of education for black children. The waves of “local control” cheating scandals in predominantly African American districts all over the country proved that eminently well.
It is about the loss of control that will be a necessary condition of passage of Amendment One that blacks fear. We saw what happened to the incumbent mayor and to Michelle Rhee, DC School Superintendent when African American school hegemony was challenged in Washington DC about four years ago. We saw what happened in Chicago last month when attempts were made to tie teacher advancement to student performance.
Amendment One is necessary to break this African American dictatorship in local public school control. We have seen the results of this dictatorship, and it is horrible.
East Lake Ira
October 25th, 2012
3:40 pm
Coming soon to GA if this passes:
http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/25/14698079-500000-payment-to-failed-charter-school-principal-sparks-outrage?lite
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:43 pm
“Orange County School District officials say they were unaware of the principal’s payment because the school isn’t required to report it under Florida’s charter school law, according to the Sentinel.”
From the article at 3:40
Well, now, this is very interesting. Don’t have to report payments under the Charter School Law. What’s not to like?
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:45 pm
Why would I educate my own child
Why would society allow you to breed?
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:47 pm
“The law is very clear that school boards cannot put limits or control how a charter school spends their money, including payouts like this” Sublette told the Sentinel. He called the payment “a shameful abuse of public tax dollars” and “immoral and unethical.”
Charter schools are privately run public schools with fewer regulations than traditional public schools. Charters, like public schools in Florida, receive state money based on student population.
This is what we need here in Georgia.
East Lake Ira
October 25th, 2012
3:50 pm
Start a school, fail, take home a cool half million dollars.
Where do I sign up?
getalife
October 25th, 2012
3:50 pm
The gop attack on education is working on the uneducated voters voting gop.
All children left behind was another w failure and if the gop proposes it, it is always a bad idea for the people.
md
October 25th, 2012
3:51 pm
“All non-scientific answers are the right answers.”
And what’s the scientific answer to the beginning of evolution??
I do believe it is also a belief……….
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:51 pm
Ira: that site went straight to the bookmarks.
Ignorant, imbecilic Republicans banging the drum for this kind of idiocy. Boggles the mind.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:52 pm
Actually, No Child Left A Behind was a W/ Ted Kennedy effort.
W and the Cons just decided to not fund it.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:53 pm
Why would society allow you to breed?
—————-
“Society” didn’t–superior genetics did. Didn’t you study Darwin in your public school?
mike
October 25th, 2012
3:57 pm
Lil’ Barry:”Didn’t you study Darwin in your public school?”
No, Lil’ Barry, I went to a Christian school-ah and the abomination-ah of Evolution-ah warn’t allowed to be taught.
cellophane
October 25th, 2012
3:58 pm
Kyle- Charter Schools USA is one of the big corporations bankrolling the pro-amendment campaign. They have two special charter schools in Georgia. The one in Coweta County has 9 percent of its students qualifying for free and reduced lunch in a county where the average is over 40 percent; the other school is in Cherokee, where the charter school has 16% of students on free and reduced lunch rate in a county averaging 32%. By not providing transportation, only providing applications and information in a single language (English), they guarantee a certain demographic– and it is not low income. Parents are required to volunteer, but you can buy your way out of the commitment with extra school supplies and other donations, neither of which works well for a struggling family.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:59 pm
Didn’t you study Darwin in your public school?
That came after we learned about our magic underwear. My underwear’s magical ability is self-cleaning.
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
3:59 pm
Too late, mike, you admitted earlier that you went to government schools. Liars need good memories, and yours isn’t so good if you can’t even remember what you’ve posted here on page 6!
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
3:59 pm
Almost 1.4 Million Pledge For Jesus as Write-In Candidate in 2012, as Disgruntled Evangelicals Vent Their Anti-Mormon, Anti-Obama Ire
http://www.alternet.org/election-2012/almost-14-million-pledge-jesus-write-candidate-2012-disgruntled-evangelicals-vent
Lil' Barry Bailout - Vote American
October 25th, 2012
4:02 pm
My underwear’s magical ability is self-cleaning.
——————
Your underwear is disposable. That’s not the same as self-cleaning.
mike
October 25th, 2012
4:03 pm
Lil’ Barry: “Too late, mike, you admitted earlier that you went to government schools.”
Lil’ Barry, I just can’t slip anything past that steel-trap mind of yours. Thanks for pointing that out to me.
Finn McCool (The System isn't Broken; It's Fixed)
October 25th, 2012
4:04 pm
Your underwear is disposable.
With Power Rangers!
Bruno
October 25th, 2012
4:05 pm
I don’t have a dog in the fight since I don’t have any kids, but I just voted in approval of the charter school amendment.
Count 1 vote for Romney as well, and 1 vote to continue banning Sunday sales of alcohol.
Dusty
October 25th, 2012
4:05 pm
I’m so tired of hearing about this , I am about ready to say “Close all the schools and throw the kiddies out in the woods!” They’d probably learn how to survive better than how to pass a crooked exam with a crooked teacher in a crooked school system with crooked parents/singles directing them. .
I am really really tired of indifferent parents or singles who expect their children to thrive while being raised like weeds. Charter schools wont be any different. There will still be dumbed down children being raised with boyfriends instead of husbands, siblings with all different “fathers”, life with no moral instruction, no manners, no good examples and none of it the children’s fault.
Send the parents to school. That’s who needs it. They obviously missed “it” when they should have gotten it. Make THEM go to school.
Of course, this is not a real expectation. A cure for dumb parents! But it is no different from expecting underprivileged children to come to school ready to learn. Charter schools will pull out the few smart ones and leave the rest behind. That may be smart for some but it is not fair for the helpless..
Who will open the first Charter school for PARENTS???
Real Athens
October 25th, 2012
4:23 pm
Dusty:
Your stereotypical, stereotyping, aside – I think you might have just found your calling.
mike
October 25th, 2012
4:27 pm
Here’s what happens when “faith healers” have differences between themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NuQ4SJWECBY
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 25th, 2012
4:49 pm
Real Athens = race pimp.
Tiberius - pulling the tail of the left AND right
October 25th, 2012
4:50 pm
Sorry.
Lying race pimp.
mike
October 25th, 2012
4:51 pm
Well Tiberius it’s good that you could join us again. I guess Kyle doesn’t mind those kind of personal attacks as long as it’s “one of his” doing it. Do you Kyle?
Numbers-R-US
October 25th, 2012
4:53 pm
Tiberius – pulling the tail of the left AND right
Sorry. Lying race pimp.
Whatever.
Dusty
October 25th, 2012
4:55 pm
Real Athens
I found my “calling” a long time ago and it is not an atypical fractious intelligentsia.such as you present.