“She wants to be flowers, but you make her owls. You must not complain, then, if she goes hunting.”
― Alan Garner, The Owl Service

A great cry of joy arose across the land, Pitchforks were raised by town folks to the sky in celebration. The evil dragon had been defeated and chased deep into its lair. Peace and prosperity would not reign in perpetuity,

That’s the feeling one might get when reading the headlines that the three Hillsdale College-affiliated schools had withdrawn their applications of appeal to the state charter school commission. But is it really news worth celebrating? I’ll let you decide, but let me tell you a story.

Back in the early 80s, I was in high school living in the Poconos – the self-avowed Honeymoon Capitol of the World. While many of us saw pristine surroundings and were content with a robust economy fueled by the resort industry, outside forces saw an opportunity. An opportunity to bring even more money to their coffers by legalizing gambling. The locals did not share this vision, in fact, they hated the idea.

A referendum was introduced. It was a half-baked proposal – light on detail – to legalize gambling on a limited scale. The opposition reacted quickly and fiercely, mounting a campaign that eventually defeated the proposed legislation. Locals felt good about themselves, feeling like they’d scored a decisive victory against the evil empire. What they’d actually done was merely delay a foregone conclusion.

In hindsight, the early proposition performed exactly as expected by its proponents. I don’t think they ever expected the initial prop to pass, they just wanted to scare their opponents out of the bushes, so that they could be identified and courted over the next 4 years. That’s exactly what they did. A social program here, a modification of the law here, a church gymnasium there, all while appealing to elected officials behind the scene. Four years later they faced considerably less opposition, and today gambling in the Poconos operates at full-tilt boogie.

I was only 18 when I initially learned this lesson, but it is still applicable today, nearly 50 years later. Hillsdale College has tested the bathwater and found it to be a little hot. So now they add a little cold water and wait for it to cool down before they slide in and become fully immersed.

Unfortunately, the advantage here falls to Hillsdale, because of its ability to entertain a singular focus. The rest of us will become more occupied with personal matters, or slide on to other political battles, while their attention will remain affixed to the singular objective of establishing their brand in Tennessee. Whether that comes this year or in a decade is of little concern.

Props should go to Dolores Gresham – or whoever is writing her press releases. Gresham chairs American Classical Education’s board of directors. The former state senator is clearly seeing the big picture and is capable of long-range thinking. Per ChalkbeatTN,

“We believe, with complete conviction, that there will be many future opportunities in Tennessee as there are in most of America …,” Gresham said. “We look forward to applying for additional charter schools where local parents, teachers and students desire excellent education alternatives.”

It’s likely been realized that the possibility of overturning districts was likely, but that the cost of victory would have been exorbitant. The credibility of the newly formed charter commission would have been irreparably damaged and the introduction of legislation to decommission them would have become a legitimate threat,  The commission is in its infancy and thus has no capacity to withstand the scrutiny that would have accompanied any decision they rendered. Thus necessitating a retreat for the greater good.

House Education Chair, and parental choice advocate, Mark White recognized this fact when he told Chalkbeat, “I believe this to be a good decision by Hillsdale charters at this time due to the events this past summer,” Back in August he bemoaned, “It’s set us back years,”

Gresham, White, and others that share a vision of school choice, need a strong state charter commission if their dreams of charter school proliferation are to ever bear fruit. Withdrawing the American Classical applications turns off the spotlight, and allows the commission time to render decisions with less scrutiny.

For their part, you can bet that Hillsdale will spend the coming year addressing concerns and foes. They will identify school boards that are more sympathetic and court-elected officials that might be swayed to waiver in their opposition.

No disrespect intended, but Arnn and Gresham are both in the twilight of their careers, don’t be surprised to see a change in the public face of the organization. Maybe former US Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos ascends to the role of spokesperson, and if he doesn’t get indicted, former Senator Kelsey takes over for Gresham.  Maybe not those two, but don’t expect it to be Arnn and Gresham.

We’ve already seen this strategy employed in Tennessee when Candice McQueen took over for embattled Commissioner of Education Kevin Huffman. Both were members of Chiefs of Change and shared similar beliefs, but one was viewed as being a kinder and gentler version, and thus more palpable in the role.

Two things I can promise you, Hillsdale will be back, and when they return they won’t be as easily dispensed. What pro-public education supporters do in the meantime will be the difference between whether they succeed or not.

TEACHER WORK

Last week I was engaged in a conversation with an education policy wonk over the merits of Grow Your Own projects. Their view of the subject was considerably more optimistic than mine, as I cling to the argument that without a wholesale reassessment of teacher responsibilities, we are just marching in place, or if you prefer my preferred description – pissing in the wind.

They conceded the point and added that everybody seems to recognize that teachers’ plates are overflowing, but nobody can seem to identify anything that can be readily taken off. In fact, they continually keep coming up with new things to add. It didn’t take but an hour after our conversation for a horse to walk into the barn and present an example of just what we were talking about.

This week MNPS superintendent Dr, Battle announced that the district’s annual School Choice Festival would be rebranded as a Celebration of Schools Festival. Same purpose, different name, more work. Each school will be provided a booth and an opportunity to sell its school in an effort to convince parents not to go private, charter, or home school.

This year the festival is scheduled for the Saturday before Thanksgiving. In the past it was just a principal and a couple staff members who would be required to attend, this year will require a  mix of 18 to include students and teachers. That’s the maximum number of folks, but we all know the unwritten message here, get 18, or risk falling out of favor.

Schools are provided the following guidance on representing their schools.

How do I highlight my school’s unique characteristics? BE CREATIVE

    •    ALL SCHOOLS – t-shirts, costumes, pom-poms, cheer teams, flag bearers, mascots, school clubs, signage, balloons, color guards, kings/queens, ROTC units demonstrate school spirit

    •    ELC/ elementary – wagons to pull students, tricycles w/ handles (ask families to provide), student-made signs… etc.

    •    Middle School – carry their House System flags

    •    High schools – every HS with a band is performing; in addition, participants can carry Academy flags… etc.

    •    High school bands -Transportation requests must be placed in Trip Tracker no later than October 20.

The pupils were reportedly separated into two groups by gender, forced to register to vote in order to obtain the promoted free food, and listen to speakers share disturbing stories of rape, suicide, and abstinence. One teacher claimed in a Facebook post that some transgender students were bullied by their peers at the event.

“I’m so excited about this partnership,” Narcisse says in the video. “We have great things coming between EBR and 29:11 Academy. It’s gonna be where all the seniors in all the high schools are going to participating. Just one of many partnerships that we have coming.”

In an effort to discredit initiatives similar to Hillsdale’s pioneering program, opponents continue to accuse charter schools of filling their classrooms with uncertified, inexperienced teachers who lack the training of their public-school counterparts, a thread that runs through all of the negative local press Arnn has amassed this summer. However, Nashville’s intrepid class of ink-stained scribes has utterly ignored the Metro Nashville Public School System’s routine hiring of undergraduates with no training in education. Working with a third-party headhunting agency, Metro targets recent graduates with degrees in fields facing teacher shortages like math, science, and foreign language a few weeks before the start of the fall semester, right when their postgrad anxieties are at a peak. They recruit through social media apps such as LinkedIn, offering an immediate job and covering costs for all required exams such as the PRAXIS. However, Metro requires its recruits to complete a Master’s or an authorized teacher training program on their own dime. Recruits who fail to stay in the system at a Title I school for two years must pay back test fees or other expenses related to their hiring.

Categories: Education