Written by Jim Drexler.
The Adira Academy Charter School, the first proposed charter elementary school in Chattanooga, was rejected for consideration on Nov. 12 by several members of the Hamilton County Department of Education. The school failed all four categories of evaluation including zero points for “financial health and stability.” On Thursday, school board members, along with Chairman Kenny Smith, said they will recommend rejection for the Adira proposal this week.
In addition, school board members say two existing charter schools, Ivy Academy and Chattanooga Girls Leadership Academy, are both struggling. And the net result could be that Hamilton County gets passed by in a future round of federal funding.
Race to the Top, a $4.35 billion federal grant program designed to fix failing schools, is about to be launched. And Tennessee Commissioner of Education Tim Webb told the Metro Nashville School Board on Tuesday that the state stands a good chance of getting part of the money. The City Paper:
The Race to the Top Fund essentially sets aside $4 billion that will be awarded to states. Webb said his office has learned Tennessee is in the Top 5 contenders for the funding, and could receive as much as $400 million for “opportunities to do new and innovative and very bold and courageous things that have never been done in public education in Tennessee,” he said.
It’s unclear, of course, whether any of the potential funds will trickle down to Hamilton County, but Thursday’s news on the charter school front is not a positive sign—because charter schools are high on the federal agenda.
“Opening a charter school in Tennessee is uphill work because the state’s rules regarding which students may and may not attend such facilities are extremely restrictive,” chattanoogan.com reports. “To qualify, students must be failing in their current school, assigned to a school that is failing and/or already attend a charter school."
When Race to the Top was first announced, criticism came raining in from all directions. But now, both major unions are behind the plan, saying that it has the “potential to spark innovation.” Some of those innovative solutions include merit pay for teachers, charter schools, continued use of standardized tests to determine success along with higher student standards, and proposals to fire the entire staff in failing schools.
Fire the entire staff at a failing school? Now that would be innovative.
Hamilton County and the state of Tennessee are always happy to receive money from Uncle Sam, and maybe some entrepreneurial folk will continue to plan for the next charter school in Chattanooga. But Thursday’s news from the school board is a vivid reminder that Hamilton County isn’t exactly charter-school friendly, and will have a hard time qualifying for Race to the Top funds.
Jim Drexler is the Dean of Social Sciences and Master of Education Program and Chair of the Education Department at Covenant College, where he has served since 2004.
LTP on Nov. 16, 2009
As a new teacher who can't get hired in the system, it is frustrating to watch the tenured teachers who read to their students out of a textbook and put no more thought into a lesson than asking the prompted questions in the teachers edition of the textbook. And we wonder why students are not engaged at school. It is frustrating to be a new teacher who is full of new ideas and strategies and unable to get hired in any school system. Meanwhile, our schools are failing.
New schools equal breathing new life into a dead school system. Why would we not try anything to better a broken system? Take the successful administrators and move them into schools that are unsuccessful instead of resting on their laurels. There are lots of things that don't make sense to me. Yet, I am still hopeful for a job in a school so that I can make a difference in my classroom.
robertlotufo on Nov. 16, 2009
“To qualify, students must be failing in their current school, assigned to a school that is failing and/or already attend a charter school.”
But we know that's just not true. It seems that the main criteria for attending these schools is to have diligent parents, who are willing to camp out, petition, or simply apply. Normal park, CCS and CSAS, just to name a few, are full of priviledged, intelligent kids. how does that fit in with these"qualifying rules"?
John Hawbaker on Nov. 16, 2009
The statement about qualification refers specifically to charter schools, which are under different regulations than magnet schools like Normal Park and CSAS.
davastewart on Nov. 17, 2009
Part of the problem with our school system is the difference between what it means to be a successful administrator or teacher to a parent or member of the community and what it means to an employee of the Department of Education.
Be very careful if you do get a job with the school system. I had one. Teaching for Hamilton County was (by far) the most disillusioning experience of my life. Being a good, creative, successful teacher is only one fairly small aspect of the job.