by Dr. Carla H.Woolbright Ed.D., LCSW

First let me state clearly that I am not opposed to all charter schools. I am opposed to charter schools being opened here in New Rochelle, NY. Charter schools are a welcome option for low performing school districts where the students in traditional public schools are performing poorly and parents have no other public school options. This is not the case in New Rochelle.

While the performance standards discrepancy between white students and Black and Brown students enrolled in the City School District of New Rochelle needs to be immediately addressed, the invasion of charter schools into New Rochelle is not the solution.

There is no question that the New York State Education Department Report Card shows, sometimes in all grades, a 30% – 40%  lower score for Black and Hispanic students’ performance in math and English Language Arts (ELA) compared to their counterparts. We have to question, if our kids are attending the same schools, sitting in the same classrooms, and challenged with the same work, why then are they so far behind academically and in many cases failing? 

There is also a percentage of minority children excelling in our school district. Let’s examine why and bring the others up in their achievements. The other stark reality is that most students of all races in New Rochelle are performing at or above the performance level of other students in the state. All NYS students can do better.

These are the questions that those proposing the acceptance of charter schools in our community are asking. Their questioning is correct, but their solution is not. I would advise all of the blind supporters of the current proposed Capital Prep Program to do their due diligence and Google the controversy brewing in the Capitol Prep Program Harlem School, which is currently under investigation, as well as  the Capital Prep Program in Connecticut. The reported complaints from the parents and students are frightening.

There are a multitude of reasons charter schools do not live up to the hype that their propaganda advertises. Charter schools do not have to hire State Certified teachers, and they have great difficulty attracting State Certified teachers, particularly in high school where the teachers have to be proficient, especially in math and science. 

It’s quite simple. It’s all about the money for the founders of charter schools. Charter school teachers and administrators earn $20 – $30,000 dollars less than their public school counterparts. Where does one get qualified teachers offering less than what they would earn in a public school? Many of the charter school teachers have been unable to pass the state certification exams. When they do pass and receive their certification, they leave the charter school for a better paying public school and better benefits, resulting in a very high teacher turnover in charter schools, often in the middle of a school year. Students in charter schools may experience as many as three or four teacher turnovers within a school year, resulting in lack of learning consistency, poor preparation, and a sense of loss for the students. 

The same is true for charter school administrators. State certification is not required of them.  Therefore, oftentimes, the only people applying to be a charter school administrator, at a $20,000 – $30,000 pay deficit, are those not qualified for employment in a public school. 

When a charter school fails (and most do), the founders merely take the money and run.  Salaries within the New Rochelle public schools are even higher and more desirable than in New York City public schools. We have small class sizes, and we are a sought after district in which to be employed. We must question the qualifications of anyone applying to work in a charter school in New Rochelle with low pay, minimal benefits, and little teacher support. 

I am also concerned that we have no control over how our tax dollars are spent by a charter school. I object to any part of my $11,000 in school taxes being diverted to a charter school. Whether we own our homes, live in an apartment, condo, co-op, etc., we should all be concerned about how our money is spent in a charter school with little or no oversight. This is different from a private school or a religious school where the parents pay the student’s tuition. I choose a public school system that is there for all students.

Charter school proponents will say that 100% of their graduating seniors are accepted to college. They don’t necessarily publish that they may have started out with 100 freshmen, but by 12^th grade they may have only 15 of those original students that will go on to college, making that advertised 100% questionable because those are the only students left. Statistics can be bent in many ways to fit a need. Their numbers may not tell the complete story. It is also interesting that the charter school option is primarily offered in Black and Brown communities where there is no public oversight of the charter schools and they expect us to drink the “Kool Aid”.

The solution to the overall poor performance of our children is not diverting public school funds away from public schools to line the pockets of people who can only serve a small percentage of our student population. 

In reality, charter schools are private schools using public funds. They say that students are admitted on a lottery basis, but only a select few parents will be completing applications for any charter school. Those are traditionally the most involved parents of our students. The students requiring the most assistance more often than not do not have an involved parent who is researching alternative schools.  This again is setting up a system from which a small group of kids will benefit, and it will also remove those active parent voices from the public school system, where their advocacy for their child usually benefits other students as well. The students left behind will continue to be the most needy with fewer resources.

We need to build our public schools, not take away from them. Public money follows a student into a charter school. If that student is dismissed from the charter school for any reason (behavioral, academic needs, parent dissatisfaction with the reality and not experiencing the promise), that money stays with the charter school for the entire school year, even though the child may have left the school at the beginning or mid-year. The public school is then required to readmit that student with drained resources. Public schools are required to admit all students. Charter schools are not. Public schools have to admit students year round. Charter schools do not. This will result in larger class size in public schools and disruption of school programming as resources are being drained away by charter schools.

The City School District of New Rochelle has been hiring teaching, administrative, and support staff who are more reflective of the student population they serve. Those positions will most certainly be in jeopardy if funding is diverted from our schools. Public school money going to the charter school instead of remaining in the traditional public school will not only affect class size and school offerings–it will also have the negative consequence of affecting staffing, and the last hired will be the first fired. 

We need to involve ourselves in rectifying the disparities within the New Rochelle School District, not divert money away from our public schools. We need to be a presence in the schools, holding teachers, administrators, and public officials responsible for the achievement gap. We need to explore the root causes of why children sitting in the same classes are having such significantly different outcomes and address those root causes.

We need to demand that schools offer tutoring assistance to all underachieving students to ensure high performance. We must offer academic intervention services to raise the scores. This must start at the elementary school level and continue in all grades. As an educator myself, I recognize that not all teachers, administrators, and other school personnel possess the skills, motivation or desire to make required change. We need to identify poor performing teachers, administrators, and support staff, offer them remediation services and support, and if they display no improvement, counsel them on other employment options. We need to continue annual implicit bias training and have those difficult discussions about how low expectations impact student outcomes.

We also need to stop ignoring the elephant in the room. Parental involvement is key to the success of any student. When the majority of us don’t attend parent teacher conferences, don’t vote in school board elections, don’t run for school board, don’t serve on the PTA, and only enter the school building to complain about a lost cell phone or to attend a sporting event, we have to be held accountable. How many of us have written letters in support of a school policy made on behalf of our children to counteract the negative letters written or statements made that can hurt our children’s school experience?  

We must stop playing the blame game and become proactive going forward. Attend Board of Education, City Council, school and community meetings etc. Research what free or low cost activities are available in the local library, spend quality time with our children in our numerous parks, playgrounds, and beaches. Insist that our children complete their homework regularly, study for tests, be on time, and attend school daily, ask for assistance when needed, and limit phone and social media time. We need to teach our children the importance of school involvement, participation in clubs, and school leadership. These habits should be instilled in children at a young age. It is exponentially more difficult in the teen years if patterns and expectations have not already been established. Let’s be real. If you’re not part of the solution, you’re part of the problem.

To our elected officials: What are you doing to address the disparities? The Report Card indicating the performance disparities within the state is not new. These disparities have been around for decades. There is massive development going on in downtown New Rochelle, which disproportionately affects those residing closer to downtown with street closures, traffic congestion, vermin invading the apartments and homes in the area, and unprecedented flooding, which we are asked to believe are not related and without remedy. Why aren’t these developers required to at least offer substantial workforce housing (not so-called affordable housing, which is a misnomer) to retain our non-wealthy population and young people instead of forcing them to move out of their hometown because they can’t afford to live here? How is it that our taxes continue to go up, not come down, with all of the development? And why are the developers not contributing to lowering our school taxes instead of being given tax abatements? How are the developers allowed to not pay their fair share of school taxes which could help fund some of the needed school improvements?

I think that the New Rochelle School District has made a good start in addressing the disparities by hiring a more diverse staff. We have to support these newbies and encourage them to advocate from the inside on behalf of all children to right the inherent wrongs in our approach to education. Not only does the staff need to be more representative, but the curriculum certainly needs to be inclusive, truthful, and presented in a manner to which our current students can relate.

For the 30-plus years I’ve resided in New Rochelle, I have been committed to helping to represent the voiceless, the underserved and the unappreciated. I challenge all of you to join me in doing your part. We have more than enough outsiders coming in and destroying the soul of our city without making life better for the majority. Now is not the time for the peddler selling snake oil. Our most precious treasures, our children, need us to stand up for them.

If those individuals, churches, and naysayers who are supporting charter schools coming to New Rochelle were truly committed to the education of our children, they would support giving attention to the needs of all children, not just the select few in whom charter schools are interested. They would be better advised to invest energy into promoting parental involvement and civic engagement programs, securing meaningful employment for our youth, ensuring accessibility of after-school enrichment activities, encouraging relationships between our local colleges and our youth, and supporting mentorship programs, among other positive things.

Let’s come together to strengthen our current public educational system, not decimate it by diverting funds away from it. We all know that it takes a village. We should combine our efforts and focus on making educational opportunities better for all our children, not just a select few, and address the root causes of these disparities.

There is no one-size-fits-all quick fix, but if we approach remedies from a holistic and mindful approach, no doubt we will be successful.