A story from the MATCH charter school lottery and the crime of charter caps and the failure of our educational system

Last October, I visited the MATCH charter school in Boston (see http://edreform.blogspot.com/2007/03/visits-to-two-charter-schools-in-boston.html), which is achiving miracles with high school students that enter MATCH in 9th grade doing math at the 5th grade level and reading at the 6th grade level.

 

So it was with particular interest that I read this email from Danny Clark, a friend of a friend who works at MATCH, describing in heart-breaking detail the lottery to determine which children get what I call "exit visas from hell" (65 lucky ones) and the remaining 500+, nearly all of whom will go back to schools that EVERYONE KNOWS are utterly failing. 

 

I get choked up reading this -- that this exists in our country is so deeply, profoundly wrong:

At the same time, this was an unbelievably heartbreaking moment. I stood there and watched parents overjoyed at the news, while other parents sat tensely waiting, hoping that their child's name would be called. Long after the first 135 names were called, basically after any hope of admission was gone, a couple of parents stayed on, listening to each name being read out.

 

I am not over-stating this when I say that 65 students' lives were changed tonight. 65 students are going to come to the MATCH School and be pushed harder than they ever have in their life to do work that they never thought they could do. If they stick with us, they will be accepted to college, and they will graduate prepared to go to college.

 

They very well may be the first in their family to graduate from college, and they may be the person to break a cycle of inter-generational poverty, drug use, alcohol addiction, or other such problem that has plagued their relatives.

 

As far as the 500+ students who do not have this option, I don't know what will happen to them. Some will be accepted to other charter schools (some of these students enter multiple lotteries, although the Match lottery far exceeds other charter schools for number of applicants), some may get into exam schools, but most will probably end up at their local Boston public high school. The parents know this. That is why they cry when their child's name is called. That is why some parents stayed long after any hope of their child being accepted to Match had ended; they were just hoping that another alternative to this situation would present itself.

 

This is a crime. Flat-out. Our educational system is pitiful. In this city, parents are screaming for other options for their children.

 

Their hands are tied. Charter school law caps the percentage of students attending charter schools in any one district at nine percent. More charter schools are not allowed to open in the city, and 600+ parents are coming to us to ask for another option than the local high school. The statistics say that 5% of minority students living in poverty will earn a 4-year college degree. We all take for granted that we will go to college, graduate from college, and live a very comfortable life.

 

The students at Match, and the students who enter our lottery, have no such security blanket. Their parents, if they are still around, have financial problems, drug problems, alcohol problems, abuse problems.

 

Our students come from the worst neighborhoods of Boston -- places that no white person should ever go at night. If their parents are raising them well, there is still the possibility that they will get sucked into the wrong lifestyle because of the neighborhood they live in.

 

College is a glimmer of hope at the end of a very long tunnel. 

What's going on in WAY too many of our schools, for millions and millions of children, is indeed an absolute crime.

 

Why aren't stories like THIS on the front page of the New York Times and every other paper in the country?!  Instead, the media seems to prefer to play idiotic games of "gotcha", fixating on irrelvant nonsense like the busses not running smoothly for a week or two. 

 

And why isn't every American of good conscience screaming bloody murder about this?  A major part of the answer, sadly, is because the victims of this crime are poor and minority.  Rest assured that if well-off white folks had to send their kids to failing schools, they wouldn't be failing for very much longer! 

 

Yet the civil rights community is basically completely absent.  I'm reminded of what I heard Howard Fuller, a true warrior for children, say: "What good is it to sit at the lunch counter when you can't read the menu?!"

 

--------------------

From: Danny Clark <dannyclark77@yahoo.com>

Date: Mar 7, 2007 11:35 PM

Subject: Good News and Bad News

 

Hey family and friends,

 

Something happened tonight that I wanted to share with all of you, mostly because I don't really know how to deal with it. For those of you who don't know, I work at a charter high school in Boston, dealing with inner-city minorities, mostly from low-income families, and the school's mission is to drive them to succeed in college. The school is exceptional at what it does, due in no part to my effort so I don't see this as bragging so much as stating what is largely recognized and acknowledged in educational circles.

 

First, the good news. Tonight, 65 students' lives were changed.

 

Tonight was my school's lottery to determine who would enter our school as freshmen next fall. By law, charter schools in Massachusetts must admit students by random lottery. Our only admission requirements are that students have a Boston address and they fill out a simple one page form. This year, 644 eighth-grade students entered our lottery, for 65 spots in the freshman class.

 

To ensure that students and parents know what they are getting into, we had an orientation session tonight before the lottery drawing.

 

Over 600 people showed up to hear about the school, to hear our principal and executive director speak, to hear our teachers and our students speak, and to learn about the school. Following the two separate orientation sessions, the lottery was held at about 8 or 8:15. Based on previous history, we know that although we only have 65 slots, the top 135 or so students in the lottery will probably be offered admission due to students choosing other school options such as exam schools or other charter schools, students/parents deciding Match isn't the right place for them, or families moving out of Boston/changing contact information so that we can't get in touch with them.

 

The lottery started to a packed crowd in our big hall. Around 200-250 people were in attendance to hear whether their child was going to be able to enter our school despite no requirement to be there. As names were read one by one, there were shrieks of delight by parents when their child's name was called. Some of these parents left the session teary-eyed, thanking our principal and saying goodbye to every staff member they could find on their way out, incredibly grateful for the opportunity for their child to attend our school.

 

Following the first 65 names, a fair number of people cleared out, and the next group of names was read, again to shrieks of delight as certain students' names were called. I can't explain the feeling of watching a parent crying over the opportunity to send their child to my school. It is incredibly, incredibly rewarding in the sense that there is a validation that everything I do with my life every day is so important to these people, and they recognize that and are thankful for that.

 

At the same time, this was an unbelievably heartbreaking moment. I stood there and watched parents overjoyed at the news, while other parents sat tensely waiting, hoping that their child's name would be called. Long after the first 135 names were called, basically after any hope of admission was gone, a couple of parents stayed on, listening to each name being read out.

 

I am not over-stating this when I say that 65 students' lives were changed tonight. 65 students are going to come to the MATCH School and be pushed harder than they ever have in their life to do work that they never thought they could do. If they stick with us, they will be accepted to college, and they will graduate prepared to go to college.

 

They very well may be the first in their family to graduate from college, and they may be the person to break a cycle of inter-generational poverty, drug use, alcohol addiction, or other such problem that has plagued their relatives.

 

As far as the 500+ students who do not have this option, I don't know what will happen to them. Some will be accepted to other charter schools (some of these students enter multiple lotteries, although the Match lottery far exceeds other charter schools for number of applicants), some may get into exam schools, but most will probably end up at their local Boston public high school. The parents know this. That is why they cry when their child's name is called. That is why some parents stayed long after any hope of their child being accepted to Match had ended; they were just hoping that another alternative to this situation would present itself.

 

This is a crime. Flat-out. Our educational system is pitiful. In this city, parents are screaming for other options for their children.

 

Their hands are tied. Charter school law caps the percentage of students attending charter schools in any one district at nine percent. More charter schools are not allowed to open in the city, and 600+ parents are coming to us to ask for another option than the local high school. The statistics say that 5% of minority students living in poverty will earn a 4-year college degree. We all take for granted that we will go to college, graduate from college, and live a very comfortable life.

 

The students at Match, and the students who enter our lottery, have no such security blanket. Their parents, if they are still around, have financial problems, drug problems, alcohol problems, abuse problems.

 

Our students come from the worst neighborhoods of Boston -- places that no white person should ever go at night. If their parents are raising them well, there is still the possibility that they will get sucked into the wrong lifestyle because of the neighborhood they live in.

 

College is a glimmer of hope at the end of a very long tunnel.

 

College is the ticket out of this world. The educational opportunities given to these students thus far leaves them with 5th grade math skills and 6th grade reading skills, on average, when they arrive at Match in 9th grade. If they go to the local Boston high school, there is virtually no hope of their life ever changing or improving. They may earn their high school diploma, and if they are motivated enough, may even enter college. However, in no way are they prepared to do well in college, academically or socially. 70% of minority students who enter a 4-year college drop out after the first year, with the number one reason cited being lack of academic preparation.

 

I am overwhelmed by this problem. This is a reality that I face every day, that I write about every day in grants that I submit to foundations to fund my school. Tonight, though, this reality smacked me in the face. 500 students are asking for a better education, a better life, than they have had so far, and we have to say, "No, we're sorry, we can't help you." Where do these students turn to? Who is going to help them? They are already criminally far behind in school, and the schools that they now turn to are in no way prepared to deal with their problems and their issues. They will slip through the cracks of the educational system, possibly graduate high school, enter the workforce with little or no marketable skills, and either turn to a life of crime or drugs, or find a menial low-paying job.

 

I don't know what to do about this, but I needed to get this story out to someone. I originally was going to send it to a couple close friends, but I felt that more people need to hear about this. I believe with my entire heart that education is the key to helping these students find a better life than they have had so far (one of our students said tonight that his mom always told him, "I just want you to have a better life than I have had." He said that to a crowd of 250 about why they should send their children to Match). I think nearly everyone I know would agree with that, so why are their educational opportunities so miserable? Why can't we, as a society, provide the hope of a better life for these families that want it but lack the resources to get there? Anyone who believes that the current educational system is working needed to see the look on some of these parents' faces as they waited for their child's name to be called.

 

Sorry for the incredibly long email. I didn't set out to make a point, just to describe the utter despair I felt watching the events of the night unfold. I apologize for getting on the soapbox for a bit. I hope you are all well. I am thankful that each and every one of you are in my life.

 

Danny