[an error occurred while processing this directive]

LATEST SUBMISSIONS

Charters under siege

Saturday, April 7 at 12:01 AM

By Terrence O. Moore, Fort Collins

State Rep. Mike Merrifield appears to be the new Dante. Until last week the chairman of the House committee on education, Merrifield stated in an e-mail to Sen. Sue Windels, a long-time opponent of school choice, that “There must be a special place in Hell for these Privatizers, Charerizers [sic] and Voucherizers!” Merrifield thus categorically condemns to the inferno parents and public-spirited men and women who want to give children a chance to leave a failing public school system and enter schools in which they will actually learn to read, write, do math and think about important things.

Such a hostile rejection of school choice finally brings to light the true animosity and contempt the Colorado educational establishment has for school reform and not a little about the establishment’s methods as well.

The venomous statement against school reformers was made in the context of Merrifield’s and Windels’ plans for abolishing the Charter School Institute, a board created under Republican leadership to authorize charter schools in the state, especially in districts hostile to the formation of charters. Not surprisingly, the hostile districts constantly invoke the deceptively federalist-sounding watchword “local control of schools.”

Translation: groups of parents and school founders wanting a better education for children who are constantly rebuffed by local school boards controlled by ed-school professors, union activists, and retired public-school teachers and administrators.

Just how hostile those districts can be is well illustrated by the heavy-handed tactics used by the Poudre School District of Fort Collins against the charter school of which I am principal. Though boasting a steadily growing enrollment, a substantial waiting list, a strong financial balance sheet, and the unique advantage of being ranked as the No. 1 public high school in the state, Ridgeview was treated to a grueling rechartering process spearheaded by a notoriously anti-charter lawyer who attempted to revise in every place he could the original charter contract that had been working for five years.

Particularly egregious was the district’s attempt to change our governing structure and the funding system used by every district in the state of Colorado, of course to the financial disadvantage of the charter school. Only after a successful appeal to the State Board of Education was the school able to obtain a contract even slightly to its liking.

Throughout the process the school knew it had the option of seeking a charter though the state Charter School Institute, an option that at least allowed our teachers and parents to sleep at night during the months of unnecessary “negotiations.” Should the institute be abolished, the writing will be on the wall for charter-district negotiations. Local school boards will be able to bully charters even more or deny their applications altogether.

Not surprisingly, the Poudre board, in league with two other districts in the state, has sued to have the Charter School Institute abolished. This same board has at another time voted illegally to limit the number of students who may attend charter schools in the district, a de facto limitation on the formation of any new charter school that could be countered only by the existence of a state chartering authority.

The attempts on the part of hostile districts to limit the scope and number of charter schools have not met with much success. The 2006 state elections that put Democrats in control of both houses of the legislature and the governorship have given these districts reason to hope that they have powerful allies at the state level.

Every school reformer in the state suspects that the Democratic assault on the Charter School Institute will be only the first battle in a war to undo the impressive school-choice legacy of Gov. Bill Owens and his fellow Republicans over the last decade and a half.

Merrifield’s revealing e-mail suggests that those fears are far from paranoia. Anyone who assumes that the gains made by “charterizers” and “voucherizers” will remain safe with the likes of Merrifield and Windels at the helm would do well to remind themselves of the words the real Dante placed above the entrance to his Inferno: “Abandon Hope, All Ye Who Enter Here.”

Terrence O. Moore is the principal of Ridgeview Classical Schools, a K-12 charter school in Fort Collins.

READER COMMENTS

While it is understood that Don Imus' comments about the Rutgers female basketball team were racially motivated, what is unclear to me is why there appear to be some readers, and editors who are making excuses for this out of the closet bigot? Rap music has nothing to do with Don Imus using his radio show as a platform to promote racism, and this isn't the first time he made racial remarks towards blacks. The cover story on today's paper "A RACIAL DIVIDE" (April 11, 2007) tell the story of a white girl (she was not named) being attacked by a hispanic student for racial slurs. Are we suggesting the girls from Rutgers respond with violence? Should Mexican Immigrants start using violence for mis-treatment as opposed to a peaceful assembly? If we allow racism to exist in any form it becomes a disease to the diversity of America. Using rap as an excuse for racist remarks does not support the issue, you can choose not to listen to rap music. The FCC should punish Imus for his insensitivity and promoting hate.

Posted by Deanna Martinez on April 11, 2007 05:24 PM