It's A Real Education
And not in multi-culturalism or any other kind of hoohah. Mitchell Landsberg writes in the LA Times about three California charter schools that actually teach the kids:
Not many schools in California recruit teachers with language like this: "We are looking for hard working people who believe in free market capitalism. . . . Multi-cultural specialists, ultra liberal zealots, and college-tainted oppression liberators need not apply."That, it turns out, is just the beginning of the ways in which American Indian Public Charter and its two sibling schools spit in the eye of mainstream education. These small, no-frills, independent public schools in the hard-scrabble flats of Oakland sometimes seem like creations of television's "Colbert Report." They mock liberal orthodoxy with such zeal that it can seem like a parody.
School administrators take pride in their record of frequently firing teachers they consider to be underperforming. Unions are embraced with the same warmth accorded "self-esteem experts, panhandlers, drug dealers and those snapping turtles who refuse to put forth their best effort," to quote the school's website.
Students, almost all poor, wear uniforms and are subject to disciplinary procedures redolent of military school. One local school district official was horrified to learn that a girl was forced to clean the boys' restroom as punishment.
Conservatives, including columnist George Will, adore the American Indian schools, which they see as models of a "new paternalism" that could close the gap between the haves and have-nots in American education. Not surprisingly, many Bay Area liberals have a hard time embracing an educational philosophy that proudly proclaims that it "does not preach or subscribe to the demagoguery of tolerance."
It would be easy to dismiss American Indian as one of the nuttier offshoots of the fast-growing charter school movement, which allows schools to receive public funding but operate outside of day-to-day district oversight. But the schools command attention for one very simple reason: By standard measures, they are among the very best in California.
...Among the thousands of public schools in California, only four middle schools and three high schools score higher. None of them serve mostly underprivileged children.
At American Indian, the largest ethnic group is Asian, followed by Latinos and African Americans. Some of the schools' critics contend that high-scoring Asian Americans are driving the high test scores, but blacks and Latinos do roughly as well -- in fact, better on some tests.
That makes American Indian a rarity in American education, defying the axiom that poor black and Latino children will lag behind others in school.
Read the whole thing.
Ugh.
As a high school kid I would have been totally turned off. As a parent I would never have sent my kids to such a place. Zealotry for any cause made me shudder. So did regimentation. They still do.
Following the wishes of my parents, I attended a college run by right-wing religious zealots from their religion. Managed not to get kicked out by keeping a low profile, but transferred out as soon as I could make the arrangements.
I'm not saying the school should not be available, because it obviously serves some kinds of students well. The wider the range of choices available, the better. That's the kind of diversity we need.
Axman at May 31, 2009 7:42 AM
It's prolly a great idea, but they are going to have problems with all that rhetoric. Establishment schools will now do everything in their power to pull them down. Not just because thet might be doing better, but because idealogically they will be seen as "evil".
When you do this sort of thing, you have to keep a low profile, as Axman got through his school on...
SwissArmyD at May 31, 2009 8:29 AM
Do these charters schools have to educate children with multiple handicaps including severe mental retardation, emotional problems and physical handicaps?
When the private schools are forced by law to take everyone and spend huge amounts of money on children who are hopeless cases, then we can compare them to the public schools.
JoJo at May 31, 2009 9:25 AM
You mean the public schools do that now?
Bullshit. Ever heard of "social promotion"? The children who are hopeless cases come out of the school system completely incapable of living, but they've still got "credentials" in the form of a diploma.
brian at May 31, 2009 9:50 AM
Awesome. The in-your-faceness seems a little immature, but we so badly need what they are offering-and succeeding at-in public education.
Yes JoJo, charter schools can't discriminate any more than regular schools can
momof4 at May 31, 2009 1:12 PM
I don't understand why it's called "American Indian." Anybody know? I don't see any Native American students mentioned.
Why was that name chosen?
Lynne at May 31, 2009 2:11 PM
IIRC, the first Europeans on our east coast thought the were a continent and ½ further along than they actually were, and it stuck.
Crid [CommentCrid@gmail.com] at May 31, 2009 2:58 PM
Wait, you mean the school. Nebber mined. Big lunch, sleepy here.
Crid [CommentCrid@gmail.com] at May 31, 2009 3:00 PM
"As a parent I would never have sent my kids to such a place. Zealotry for any cause made me shudder. So did regimentation."
Whine, whine.
Meanwhile, look around. The success stories, should you bother to look for them, came at great personal cost; it was just self-imposed. While Alex Van Halen went out partying, Eddie stayed home and practiced, turning himself into a legend and reinventing rock guitar. Every dinky gold-medalist you see flipping on the balance beam works day and night for years.
And the entire reason the US Navy had 120+ nuclear reactors in US ports with no issues (80+ now) is their schools; I went through 'em, then I was on the staff of one in Orlando. Don't bring your personal mail to class. We want you to know the difference between on-duty and off, US Navy time and your time. That works.
It's time to stop the BS, pretending that it is possible to relax your way to an education, "do your own thing" and stand out.
Radwaste at May 31, 2009 5:51 PM
Don't be surprised if someone in the public school system in California tries to bring a lawsuit against this group.
Homeschooled children in California score higher on tests than public school children.
Not long ago they brought a suit to make it illegal to homeschool children. Why? Because it is about controlling the minds of your children rather than having them get an education. They think that the input they have is more importanat then reading,writing and arithmetic.
You would think they would take ideas from groups that are more successful in educating the kids and try to incorporate that into the public schools. Nope! We just want to keep doing what we're doing. Who cares if the kids have a sub-standard education!
Basically the teachers unions fear losing control, but don't really care if they are putting out an inferior product. GM anyone?
David M. at June 1, 2009 6:43 AM
According to the article, they must accept all applicants up to their capacity. If they get more applicants, they must use a lottery to determine who is accepted.
According to the article, they focused on "American Indian Culture" (in quotes because there's more than one of those). Their new principal (who is an American Indian) in 2000 got rid of what he called "basket weaving" and instituted the current curriculum and methods.
I hope that when my son is of school age there will be a school like this available to us. The article indicates that they're already toning down the rhetoric, which is fine with me.
Pseudonym at June 1, 2009 6:58 AM
My high school was very strict, especially in Grade 13, so when I went to university, I found it a breeze in comparison (I went to a public school in Canada). If you have structure, you can go into an unstructured environment like university and do well.
I watched Star Trek last night, and one thing stuck in my mind, that all the lead characters were unusually gifted intellectually and breezed through the academy. This is a fantasy which has come up in a lot of movies (Good Will Hunting to name one). People want something for nothing and it ain't going to happen.
Chrissy at June 1, 2009 11:53 AM
Wow - a school that is doing the *unbelievably obvious*, in this day and age? Amazing.
DavidJ at June 2, 2009 2:58 PM
"When you do this sort of thing, you have to keep a low profile, as Axman got through his school on.."
Part of the very *problem* with our anti-success culture is the fact that we're all expected to act like hard work and success are something to be ashamed of, something to be done almost in secret, only to be spoken of in quiet whispers lest you offend the rabble. Baloney - that's why Asian cultures are eating our lunch economically and starting overtake scientifically while we trail pathetically - I think that performers with good old-fashioned values should grow a spine stand up and loudly and proudly proclaim the virtue of their values. It may be unpopular to do so today, but just like it was once highly unpopular to 'come out of the closet', a few brave individuals blazed the trail and made it OK for many more today for gays. And that's the only way we will ever make it OK again for achievers to stand up and say, 'you know what, screw this anti-achievement culture, I'm going to be better than that'. So you need examples of 'rising above the crap', for kids everywhere, and to send a message that you won't accept the race to the bottom.
Success and hard work are things to be proud of ... if we already live in a world where people suggest with a straight face that you have to "keep a low profile" in effect for aiming proudly for success, I find that a bit of a worrying thought.
DavidJ at June 2, 2009 3:07 PM
"Do these charters schools have to educate children with multiple handicaps including severe mental retardation, emotional problems and physical handicaps?"
Shouldn't there be special schools for people like that? That's how it was in my day --- it doesn't make sense to put these children in normal schools.
DavidJ at June 2, 2009 3:13 PM
I watched Star Trek last night, and one thing stuck in my mind, that all the lead characters were unusually gifted intellectually and breezed through the academy. This is a fantasy which has come up in a lot of movies (Good Will Hunting to name one). People want something for nothing and it ain't going to happen.
That is an outstanding observation.
IIRC, Richard Marcinko wrote that he liked to look among the guys who had barely made it through training when he was recruiting for Seal Team 6.
Shawn at June 2, 2009 10:24 PM
Shouldn't there be special schools for people like that? That's how it was in my day --- it doesn't make sense to put these children in normal schools.
That was the method in the old days, however the 'special schools' became a holding pen and lacked any real eduction and turned out kids that were incapable of supporting themselves. Now 'mainstreaming' is more popular, simply because people with disabilities have many of the same needs as those without. Kids with learning disabilities are often able to learn at a grade appropriate level in most subjects with problems in just one area. Also, often kids with physical disabilities have no learning difficulties, so the kids might as well have the same opportunities.
-Julie
Julie at June 3, 2009 7:58 AM
Leave a comment