School choice has a hold in Minnesota

09/06/2005

James Walsh,
Star Tribune
September 6, 2005

It was two days before the start of school and Teri Wilkins and her children, ninth-grader Brian and seventh-grader Emily, were pitching in at Math and Science Academy in Woodbury. Mainly, the kids were figuring out how to use a cordless drill to assemble a table. Mom was doing whatever was needed: answering phones, guiding visitors, cleaning up.

They were helping because this is their school, they picked it and they want it to succeed. “We love it here,” Emily said. The Wilkinses chose this cozy, suburban school for its small class sizes and large academic reputation. But Math and Science Academy is no private enclave for the privileged. It is a public charter school, one of an expected 125 with students this fall, and it is helping transform public education in Minnesota and across the country.

From the inner cities to the state’s far corners, the school choice movement—home schooling as well as charter, private and alternative schools—has turned the traditional image of public education on its head.

With new, niche schools offering everything from “back to basics” to the performing arts, today’s public schools have never been so balkanized.

Meeting the demands

“I wouldn’t use that word, balkanization,” said Joe Nathan, director of the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesota’s Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. “I would use the word ‘democratization.’ “

Simply put, Nathan said, parents and students today are more comfortable than ever with the idea of choosing the best school, the best fit, for them. And they are driving an educational movement to meet those personal demands through ever-expanding public school choice.

Tens of thousands of public school students are taking college classes, attending schools in other districts through open enrollment or are learning at home. More than 150,000 of the state’s 839,000 public school students now attend
alternative programs, often designed for at-risk learners.

And charter schools? Since 1996-97, charter school enrollment in Minnesota has gone from 2,100 students to more than 17,500 last year. This fall, nearly 20,000 students are expected to attend Minnesota’s 125 charter schools—a 10-year increase of more than 800 percent. Another 30 schools are expected to open here in 2006.

Nationally, the picture is much the same. In the past five years, the number of charter schools has gone from just over 2,300 to more than 3,400, enrolling close to a million students. Forty states now have laws establishing charter schools; California leads the way with 533 of the schools, and Arizona is next with 509.

No proof they work

The growth of charter schools is especially dramatic considering that there is no clear proof that they improve student achievement. Begun in Minnesota in 1991, charter schools are usually teacher- and parent-run public schools that receive their money directly from the state and operate independently from traditional school boards. The theory: Unencumbered by bureaucracy and closer to parents, charter schools could better adapt to student needs.

But there are no comprehensive studies showing that charter schools do a better job of teaching the same kinds of kids as other public schools. On the recently released 2005 Minnesota Comprehensive Assessments, 19 of 109 charter schools did better in math than the state average. In reading, 26 of 109 charters were better than the state average.

Nelson Smith, president of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington D.C., acknowledges that there is little long-term proof that charter schools are doing a better job. And, despite the movement’s growth, charter schools still are struggling for attention, he said. A recent survey of registered voters shows that only about 12 percent really know what charter schools are about.

Redefining education

Still, he said, charter schools are driving change. Chicago’s school system is moving toward a “portfolio” of public school choice that includes charter schools. In Arizona, the teachers union is polling parents to find out why they are sending their children to charter schools. And the continuing growth of inner-city charter schools nationwide, coupled with the loss of students, is pushing school boards to expand their own offerings, whether it be Montessori programs, language immersion or schools with a cultural focus.

“Charter schools really are helping redefine what we mean by public education,” Smith said.

It has certainly redefined public education for Josh Minsley. A math and theater teacher at Math and Science Academy, which serves kids in sixth through 12th grades, Minsley once taught at St. Paul Highland Park High School and always pictured himself working in urban education. But the prospect of losing his job to budget cuts in St. Paul, together with an offer to help start a math department and curriculum from scratch at the charter school, proved too alluring, he said.

“Was it a gamble? Absolutely. But there’s a sense of honor and a sense of accomplishment,” said Minsley, who is also the charter school’s technology coordinator and serves on its school board. “This was a chance to create something from the ground up.”

Taking the leap

Perhaps nothing signals this shift in attitude more than parents’ willingness to take the leap into choice. Fifteen years ago, choosing one of the state’s few charter schools would have been a leap into the unknown, acknowledged Nathan of the Center for School Change. Not anymore. Not with established schools such as Woodbury’s Math and Science Academy, Duluth’s North Shore Community School and St. Paul’s Nova Classical Academy and Twin Cities Academy gaining academic prestige.

Even schools that draw a higher population of struggling students are proving hugely popular, Nathan said. Mainly, that is because many families choosing them feel more connected because of their small size and a teaching staff that is often more reflective of the student population.

The Rev. Evelyn Winfield, a minister at the Inner City Church of Minneapolis, said she has no fear of the unknown as her granddaughter and grandson start at the new Soul Academy Charter School in Minneapolis this week. One reason: The school will be based in her church. Another reason: She is certain the school will be a smaller, safer and more nurturing environment than their former Minneapolis public school. “It was a pretty natural decision for us to make,” Winfield said. “We’ve been praying about it, knocking on doors and working to get everything ready.”

Equally confident is Mohamed Farid, whose 15-year-old daughter will attend the new Augsburg Academy for Health Careers charter school in St. Paul. One of the draws of the school is its curriculum, Farid said. But another is the large number of Somali students who will be attending there. Still, Farid acknowledged that taking his daughter out of a private school and enrolling her in an unproven charter school is a gamble.

“You don’t know how it’s going to come out,” he said, reflecting the increasing ease in which parents are choosing other options for their kids. “But I’m optimistic about it. If it doesn’t work, we can go to our old school again.”