A HOME RUN FOR CHARTERS. Few things are as all-American as baseball – and education opportunity! Over 1,000 D.C. charter school leaders, educators & families got to experience that winning combination on July 23rd at Nationals Park, where CER partnered with the winning team to sponsor DC Charter School Night. The event celebrated the achievements of the D.C. charter school community which has delivered extraordinary results for the school kids of the Nation’s Capital, particularly low income and at risk students whose achievements have soared since charter opportunities began in 1996. Twelve schools were recognized on the field and a great time was had by all - including the Nats who trounced the Colorado Rockies 11-1.
The only error on the night was the continued refusal of the D.C. School Board to release over 1.5 million square feet of unused building space for the 11,861 waitlisted students who are waiting to get into the charter school line-up. The sad details are here . Come on DCPS – make this a grand slam by opening those doors and letting the students in to learn and thrive.
A GRAND SLAM FOR MIKE BLOOMBERG. Former NewYork Mayor – and prominent liberal Democrat –Mike Bloomberg hit it out of the park in his recent speech to the 2019 NAACP Convention. “They want to take options away from our kids, and I don’t think we should do that. You can’t let them do that”, said Hizzoner. So far Mayor Bloomberg is bating 1,000 in our book.
WARREN TO SANDERS TO BIDEN - ONE, TWO, THREE STRIKES YOU’RE OUT. Though we call out three in the headline, it seems that every Democrat running for President wants to make college “free” for everyone and cancel debts that were voluntarily entered into because…well…because folks took out loans they can’t afford without completing their education or securing the requisite training that will land them the jobs that employers throughout the country are dying to fill! It’s kind of like the urban school districts who recently signed teacher union contracts that will most certainly bankrupt those districts in the not too distant future. An excellent rundown on how off base and full of errors those proposals are recently appeared in Reason magazine. Well worth a read.
ROOT, ROOT, ROOT FOR THE HOME TEAM. Yes, yes, the Nats of course, but also for Virginia Walden Ford founder of the D.C. Parents For School Choice. This remarkable woman is featured in a movie in production, documenting her incredible journey through Washington, DC, the Halls of Congress and even facing off with then President Clinton on his veto of the DC Opportunity Scholarship Program. Miss Virginia, which is also the name of the movie, would persevere, as did thousands of parents and allies who joined her in her quest. Ford is being played by Uzo Aduba, star of the popular “Orange Is The New Black” television series. The film’s producer Erin O’Connor hits the nail on the head; “Her story is one of grit, determination, and the transformative power of a mother who refuses to give up on her son”. This will be a “must see” film, and we will keep you updated on its progress and release dates.
ANOTHER CHOICE ALL STAR. Not much farther from National’s Park than a throw to the plate from deep right field are the Friendship Schools in D.C. Wards 7 & 8, the city’s poorest area. Founder and Board Chairman Donald Hense is spotlighted as five of the Friendship schools were rated Tier 1 by the Public Charter School Board. Over 80% of the students are black or latino, all of whom are getting a superior education because of…wait for it teachers’ unions…choice and opportunity. Hense and Virginia Walden Ford are powerful one-two hitters in the charter schools line-up.
PUT THEM IN COACH – THEY’RE READY TO PLAY. Incompetent managers and coaches cost many talented teams championships. Likewise, incompetent educrats and school districts cost many talented students the chance to receive quality education. The latest example comes from rural Wisconsin, where kids in Mattoon face a 45 minute bus ride to school because the school board is blocking the use of empty- yes empty – school buildings by a charter school. Sadly the D.C. educrat “stand in the schoolhouse door rather than open a charter” mentality has apparently spread to Mattoon. The stubbornness or plain ignorance of the education establishment across America to opening doors of opportunity to students brings to mind Casey Stengel’s famous remark when he was manager of the woeful 1962 New York Mets, “Does anyone here know how to play this game?”
As always, please drop us a line, with any input and suggestions.
Founded in 1993, the Center for Education Reform aims to expand educational opportunities that lead to improved economic outcomes for all Americans — particularly our youth — ensuring that conditions are ripe for innovation, freedom and flexibility throughout U.S. education.
Innovation In Education Takes Many Forms
by Jeanne Allen
Forbes
July 17, 2019
Dennis Littky is a radical, fascinating and successful education rebel. He’s a serial education entrepreneur who’s redefining the term “higher education.” The former principal of Thayer High School in Winchester, New Hampshire, cofounder of both The Big Picture Company and The Met School has launched the best of his innovations yet: College Unbound, a “Bachelor’s degree completion program designed around an innovative, personalized, interest/project-based curriculum model” for adults, especially those who can’t afford the time or money it takes to leave their jobs or their families to hang out on increasingly irrelevant college campuses. It’s the epitome of the “k through career” vision that 21st-century education must embrace to stay relevant.
“Everyone is always saying, ‘students gotta be college-ready,’” Littky said in his gravelly voice, “I’m saying, ‘colleges need to be student-ready!'”
College Unbound pays close attention to the needs of the student. “We meet at night, when students can meet. There’s always food there. There’s always babysitting there. You might think that’s stupid and little, but it allows them to be there,” Littky said. This makes sense, of course, if you’re trying to help adults complete their education. We all know the smallest of challenges can keep you from the most important endeavors. Just think how hard it is to get to the grocery store or the gym when you have kids or a job!
Researchers exploring attitudes and effectiveness of higher education are discovering that relevance plays an enormous role in whether and how people sustain their education. According to the Strada Education Network, which has surveyed more than 110,481 adults, aged 18 to 65, who are currently employed and have taken at least some college courses, “only 26% of working U.S. adults with college experience strongly agree that their education is relevant to their work and day-to-day life. Consumer ratings of relevance are more powerful predictors of quality and value than demographic characteristics of individuals, their fields of study and their level of education. Relevance better predicts quality and value than gender, race, ethnicity, age, income, field of study, and attainment level.”
To ensure that their students are not only engaged but see the relevance of their education, College Unbound’s curriculum is entirely project-based. “If a course is in writing, we ask each student to write about their own life experiences,” Littky said. “So the idea is to use who you are -- you’re 49 years old, you’re 35 years old -- use that experience to get out and to be transformed.”
And we all know that that’s what it’s going to take to make a difference in the lives of so many who are denied educational opportunity in America: radically meaningful approaches to learning and getting credentialed, spearheaded by rebels like Dennis Littky.
Of course, as we all know, the problem begins much earlier. Most students entering college are not prepared for those challenges, with 40% of students at four-year college and 66% of students at community college needing remedial education. The cost of high schools graduating functional illiterates is an estimated $1.3 billion annually. So is college really the problem? High school should produce people who are literate, whether they become plumbers, professors, managers or “just” parents."
In North Carolina, James McDougald and Ben Chavis, are trying to bring innovation to rural education. These two unlikely friends grew up in economically disadvantaged Robeson County, North Carolina’s most rural, more than 40 years ago. College scholarships propelled McDougald to Wake Forest University, where he became a football star and eventually played for the NFL. He now serves a head of the City Council of Maxton. Once the largest community in Robeson County, a thriving hub, Maxton has faded with the decline of tobacco and the closing of a local Air Force base.
Chavis, a Lumbee Indian, graduated from the University of Arizona with his BA in education. After receiving his doctorate, he took his passion to education founding one of the most successful charter schools in America: Oakland, California’s American Indian Charter school,which catalyzed new school opportunities in a gang-infested area of Oakland before anyone else would consider opening a school. Both McDougald and Chavis chose to return to their roots to try to bring back education excellence to their parts of rural America, following the job loss and isolation these regions have endured for more than a quarter century.
“James and I grew up here,” Chavis said. “We both went to major universities - we were prepared to go off and get an education. But why is it we were prepared to go off and be successful, and today kids are not. We know the kids have the ability - it’s not the kids, it’s not the parents, it’s not the families, it’s not the community - we need better schools. It’s not about race,” Chavis says. “It’s about preparedness.”
The city official McDougald counsels that dramatically improving schools is also the key to economic development in rural areas.
“When you educate a populace, people want to come to where you are,” he says. “If you had great schools in Robeson County, you would have great roads.”
“Our students today are brighter, smarter - but they aren’t challenged. And that’s the problem that we have. If you’re not challenged, you’re not going to make it.” That’s why both support any opportunities to bring education urgently to Robeson County. “I’m for charter schools, private schools, public schools, whatever works for our kids. But the system we have right now is not working,” Chavis says.
These are but three of the thousands of visionary leaders from vastly different parts of the world, working to reconnect education and work with innovative ideas. They’re destined to pull American public education out of its tailspin, and back in the business of strengthening lives, families, communities, and the country.