Durham Charter School Opponents Called Ideological | Eastern North Carolina Now

   Publisher's note: The author of this fine report, Dan Way, is a contributor to the Carolina Journal, John Hood Publisher.

Durham school board hints racism motivates RTP-based STEM charter

    DURHAM     A citizen watchdog says the Durham County school board's rush to oppose a science and technology-based charter school has deprived the public of sufficient review and input.

    "They just seem to have such a social agenda instead of focusing on getting an education that's most appropriate for the kids," said Richard Ford, a publishing industry retiree who volunteers as a tutor for at-risk students and is an advocate of charter schools. Ford also is chairman of the research committee for the Durham County Republican Party.

    Notwithstanding widespread support the Research Triangle High School has received from academics, entrepreneurs, and educators, the school's supporters note that the Durham County school board objects to public charter schools on ideological grounds, suggesting that charter operators' goal is to establish a "separate" system of public schools, segregated by race that deprives traditional schools of funding and other resources. Charter advocates say they are baffled by such imagery.

    Research Triangle High School would provide so-called STEM learning -- Science, Technology, Engineering, Math -- that would tap into the deep talent and resources of Research Triangle Park. It would be located in RTP and open with 160 students in grades 9-12, with enrollment increasing to 420 in year 5. It would have 570 students by year 8 if a middle school were added in year 6.

    The Durham Public Schools Board of Education discussed a board resolution opposing state approval of the charter school at a Jan. 24 retreat, and approved it at a Jan. 26 board meeting. The State Board of Education could decide the school's fate as early as March 1.

    The school board's decision "just got my dander up," Ford said.

    A vote on the resolution was not announced on the Jan. 26 printed agenda, it was not discussed at any work sessions prior to the retreat, school officials had not told him when notice of the special meeting was published and there was not ample time for public feedback, Ford said.

    "It really seemed to me ... kind of demonizing people on the other side. In one of the private messages I got a school board member, who I won't identify, said very coyly this is a Republican attempt to start two school systems," he said.

    The N.C. School of Science and Mathematics, UNC School of Education, and Research Triangle Foundation already have submitted letters of support for the charter school. In Biogen Idec Foundation's letter of support, it said the proposed school would have "a transformative effect on science education in North Carolina."

    In a Jan. 27 email to Ford, school board member Leigh Bordley said "sometimes agenda items are added at the last minute" and aren't on the agenda. She defended the board's resolution, writing, "We do not believe that public funds should be used to support schools that are not open to all members of the public."

    "Everything that we talk about ... doesn't have to come through a work session" or a working committee process, said school board Chairwoman Minnie Forte-Brown. Notice "was published in the paper that we would be discussing a resolution regarding charter schools at our retreat. We aren't doing anything illegal."

    The school district actually posted notice of the Jan. 24 meeting on the school board calendar of its Web page on Jan. 18, school officials said.

    Pamela Blizzard, founder of the Raleigh Charter High School and the RTP-based Contemporary Science Center, which has applied to open the new charter school, said the school board's resolution is deeply skewed and "inflammatory."

    Among other things, it states the charter "will function effectively as a de facto private school supported by taxpayers," lack commitment to poor students and children of unemployed parents, and "will promote racial and economic segregation" through various admission standards.

    "The resolution is very, very obviously not based on what they read, it's based on what they want the public to believe," Blizzard said.

    Indeed, the school's application emphasizes it must enroll any qualified student and it will abide by all state and federal laws. The state has evaluated the charter application as "excellent" in its admissions policies.

    Blizzard notes that RTP has a diverse population, the school would be located near low-income and minority communities, and in open houses held to date, "between 25 and 60 percent of the interested families that have come are from nonwhite or non-Caucasian backgrounds."

    "We've been very frustrated that the conversation is all about diversity and transportation and none of the conversation is about what we're going to do" based on years of research and developing innovative best practices for improved teaching and learning through the Contemporary Science Center, Blizzard said.

    Ford wonders, with a school board election looming, if the rush to pass a resolution amounts to political grandstanding. He noted that the left-wing People's Alliance organization has posted on its website an expectation of Durham charter schools that closely mirrors Durham Public Schools' positions.

    The school district already submitted an impact statement to the state so the more recent resolution is duplicative, he said. Forte-Brown disagrees.

    "The follow with the resolution actually indicated this school [Research Triangle High School]," Forte-Brown said. "The impact statement is not so much what Research Triangle High School would do, but what charter schools in general would do."

    The impact statement written by Durham Public Schools Superintendent Eric Becoats and forwarded Nov. 14 to the State Board of Education broadly but briefly discusses overall charter school impact on the school system. Mostly it highlights STEM offerings that currently exist in the district. But it makes clear it is in response to Research Triangle High School.

    "In conclusion, Durham Public Schools requests the State Board of Education deny the charter school application of the Contemporary Science Center for a new STEM school, Research Triangle High School," Becoats wrote.

    While opposing the application, the impact statement cites as district STEM strengths the lesson plans, field trips, and research of the Contemporary Science Center.

    The Durham County Republican Party passed a resolution supporting Research Triangle High School and sent it to State Board of Education President Bill Harrison Monday.

    "RTHS will help fill our vital need for more Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) programs," party chairman Theodore Hicks said. "The White House has set a goal of 1,000 such programs for this decade. Placing such a high school in RTP will create great synergies and help to bring the benefits of RTP to even more Triangle residents."

    "It's just not surprising that a local school district wants to retain those students, but clearly in North Carolina we have decided that at all levels we need to do something different, and I believe that's what Pamela Blizzard and that board are trying to do," said Eddie Goodall, executive director of the Charlotte-based N.C. Public Charter Schools Association.
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