Let’s have an honest conversation about charter schools in Alberta.
I am beginning my twentieth year of teaching this year. It feels like a century ago when I was packing up and flying to North Carolina for my first teaching position. I spent nine years working in North Carolina before returning home to Alberta in 2013. Working in the United States gave me a glimpse into the world of charter schools, as well as the state’s decimation of the teaching profession bit by bit with legislation written to undermine the public system.
When I first moved to North Carolina, I worked in Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools, a massive district, when the No Child Left Behind campaign was in full swing. To ensure no child was left behind, adequate yearly progress (AYP) was being measured with state exams. Schools who made their AYP were rewarded with bonus money to every staff member, while schools who did not make their AYP were penalized.
Working in the US gave me a glimpse into the world of charter schools, as well as the state’s decimation of the teaching profession...
First, schools would be warned to improve scores. Then, intervention blocks would be implemented. Then, teachers would be tasked with working longer days (unpaid, of course) to tutor students who were struggling.
It is worth noting that socioeconomics — including high levels of poverty — and language — including immigrant, English-language learner (ELL) populations — were not taken into consideration. It should also be pointed out that no child, whether they were an ELL or had a diagnosed special need, was allowed modifications or supports for testing. And there were no exceptions to writing exams.
All that mattered was that the schools hit their AYP, or else.
If a school failed to meet their AYP for three years, the real sanctions happened. This was when “school of choice” would be implemented.
If your child attended a school that was a school of choice (i.e., one not meeting state targets), you could move your child to a nearby higher performing school at no cost. Busing would be taken care of. You could still qualify for free and reduced-cost lunch. So, imagine being a parent faced with an opportunity to move your child to a “higher performing” school where they could potentially get more! Why wouldn’t you take advantage of that?
When I moved to North Carolina, my school was doing well with the AYP considering its student population. However, there were definite signs of a downward slide. That is when I first heard the story of Shamrock Gardens Elementary.
Shamrock Gardens was smack dab in the middle of the country club area of Charlotte — an older, well-established and very wealthy community. The school had an active parent teacher organization and ranked very high on the state results for AYP. This wealthy part of the city, however, was surrounded by areas that were experiencing high poverty. Immigrant families would move into these areas because of the multi-family housing there and the proximity to work in factories and plants.
When one of the schools from the more depressed areas fell into the school of choice model, these families were able to access the incredible resources of Shamrock Gardens. However, moving students from one school to another does not change the language barriers or the poverty. And it did not take long for the families who lived in the country club area to see this and organize themselves.
They had means, education and political sway. They could build their own charter school. A charter school for just their children. A charter school that could lure away the Shamrock Gardens staff, who were suddenly overwhelmed by the increasing complexities in the classroom. So, these wealthy families created their new school where they could filter out the students and families they felt didn’t belong. Their new school still accessed all kinds of public funding, draining every last resource from the public system that it could.
It didn’t take long. After about four years, Shamrock Gardens fell into disarray and failed to meet AYP targets. It became a school of choice, which meant those students were moved again within a system that was designed not to address the real issues but, rather, to keep the shell game moving along.
Every time we discuss charter schools, I always think about that school in Charlotte. It is the cautionary tale that every single stakeholder in education in our province needs to know about.
As we look at education in Alberta, we can see the legislation coming down the pipe. The standardized assessments already are being put in place. How long until those assessments are used by the government to rank and score schools and teachers? This will create a system that is sure to buckle and break under the pressure.
How long until our schools become another Shamrock Gardens?
Teacher
Melanie Golding has been teaching for 20 years in both the U.S. and Alberta and is passionate about cats and politics.
