Charter schools about choice in education

Maria Mirabueno knew that if she sent her eighth-grade daughter, Truth Taylor, to a public school next fall, Taylor might drop out of high school. Her career in the public school system was marked by a curriculum that didn’t fit her unique learning requirements and teaching methods that weren’t supportive of her emotional needs, her mother said. So Mirabueno was overjoyed when she learned that public schools weren’t the only option. 

Starting this fall, Seattle will open a charter school, Summit Public School: Sierra (known as Summit Sierra). When Mirabueno heard about it from one of Taylor’s teachers, she pounced on the opportunity, and Taylor became one of the first students accepted and enrolled. 

“I was getting really nervous — I didn’t know if she could succeed in high school,” Mirabueno said. “But this school was different. When the executive director carefully looked at my daughter’s background, I knew she wasn’t going to simply be an ID number, that they would get to know her.… At public schools you don’t get that.”

Truth currently goes to Mercer International Middle School on Beacon Hill.

One of the major perks of the charter school is that Taylor will get her own yearlong mentor, Mirabueno said. Low motivation was a major challenge for Taylor. 

“But I think this will be a life-changer for her and even for me,” Mirabueno said. “She’ll be more involved than just sitting in the classroom. They’ll blend her with the other kids and develop her self-esteem.”

Eight charter schools are opening in Washington state this fall: Summit Sierra (1025 S. King St.) in Seattle, serving ninth grade; Rainier Prep in Highline, serving fifth and sixth grades; Excel Public Charter School in Kent, serving sixth and seventh grades; SOAR Academy in Tacoma, serving kindergarten and first grade; Destiny Middle School in Tacoma, serving sixth grade; Olympus High School in Tacoma, serving ninth grade; PRIDE Prep in Spokane, serving sixth and seventh grades; and Spokane International Academy in Spokane, serving kindergarten, first and sixth grades. 

All of the specific grades apply only for the 2015-16 year, the first year of the schools’ operation; in following years, those grades will be expanded. For instance, Summit Sierra will eventually serve ninth through 12th grades.

Solidifying successful schools

Charter schools have a questionable track record, both locally and nationally. The first charter to open in Seattle, First Place Scholars Charter School, was put on probation just weeks after it opened last fall, for not having a special education teacher, not educating English-language learners adequately and not having a viable budget, according to The Seattle Times. 

The Washington State Charter School Commission gave the school one final chance before it would pull the school’s contract to operate as a publicly funded charter school. It voted 4-3 in June to extend the school’s probation for one year.

But Malia Burns, executive director of Summit Sierra, said that her hosting organization, Summit Public Schools, is a different operation than First Place Scholars and conducts business differently. She also joined a network to learn about contract law compliance and other issues that most education administrators wouldn’t have training in.

“Having a charter means you have extra freedom, but it doesn’t make you an inherently strong or weak business,” she said. 

The Washington State Charter Schools Association (WSCSA) is likewise taking no chances on ensuring success.

“School startup is, no doubt, a heavy lift,” said WSCSA communications and strategic relations manager Maggie Meyers. “That is why each of these eight schools have given themselves many months since authorization to thoughtfully prepare with enough time to engage with families and students. [They found] high-quality facilities, learned from [the] best practices around the country and designed school programs that meet the high standards of the strongest charter laws in the country and help all students succeed.”

Meyers said all eight schools participated in WSCSA’s Strong Start program, which prepped them in running successful operations, finances, special education and board development.

“They are prepared,” she stated.

But Meyers noted that the process has not been easy either, primarily due to the charter schools’ bad public rap. 

“If I had to name one ongoing challenge that Washington’s public charter schools and sector as a whole continue to face, I would call out the charge we have of clarifying fundamental misperceptions about what charter schools are,” she said.

“They are a type of public school. Like all public schools, they do not charge tuition, are open to all students and are publicly funded,” she explained. “Public charter schools are held more accountable for showing improved student achievement, and in exchange for that greater accountability, teachers and principals are given more flexibility to customize their teaching methods and curriculum to improve student learning.”

In general, startup has been going well. All eight schools have secured facilities, and they all have full or nearly full staffs. 

“The staff includes talented folks who are local to the school regions, as well as many educators who are Washington natives returning home from out of state to teach in charter schools here,” Meyers said.

They are also all fully enrolled or nearly fully enrolled. They are all continuing to accept applications, even if it is for wait-list positions. 

‘The whole child’

Kathy O’Neal has no problems with the quality of academics her son Elijah is receiving as an eighth-grader in the Bellevue School District. At age 13, he’s working beyond grade level with classmates who are a year older than him. His course work is rigorous and includes mostly honors classes.  

However, O’Neal said Elijah’s school doesn’t allow him the opportunity to nurture other aspects of his education: “I’m looking for an environment where there’s more hands-on learning experiences, looking at the whole child.” 

Being in a diverse environment is also important to O’Neal. “The Bellevue School District is not diverse,” she said. “And not just about racial diversity — also socioeconomic diversity. A complete education is having your child experience all kinds of people.”

That’s why O’Neal will send her son to Summit Sierra next fall. 

“I’m intrigued by the idea of the experiential learning Summit Sierra offers: being able to get out and learn beyond the classroom walls,” she said. “Even in a high-performing public school system, there are not a lot of field trips. Elijah has had less than five field trips in middle school. Getting out of the building and learning in the community is good for him.”

But O’Neal emphasized that just because she personally thinks a charter school is a good choice for her son, it doesn’t mean that she’s ideological about it. Coming from a background of thriving in both public and private schools, O’Neal said that there isn’t a one-size-fits-all for students: All kids have different academic needs, and that’s why choice is important.

“I’m a proponent of having choice in education, and that’s why I’m a supporter of charter schools,” she said. “I don’t believe that charters schools nor private schools nor public schools are for everybody. In every family you can have very different children. I’m all about families having choice in education.”  

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