Alameda NayTiff has asked several times what the demographics of ACLC are, particularly broken down by attendance area. While I understand that some may grow weary of the issue of demographics, one of the main reasons I continue harping on it goes back to the lack of accountability that is expected from charter schools in general. It is one of the most glaringly obvious failures of some charter schools to abide by the charter school law. Our legislators have punted on the issue of education accountability in the name of “choice,” a vague term if there ever was.
We all have a level of choice for the education of our children, I think Mark Irons (too lazy to look for the comment now) phrased it best when he discussed his own personal situation for his own child, opting for private school for the smaller class sizes even though they could not technically “afford” it. We make sacrifices, buy into the “better” school districts, scrimp and save…all parents know the personal lengths they would go for their own children. But on the other hand, should that come on the backs of other children, as I personally feel that this particular new charter school application does during these difficult fiscal times?
To be completely candid, I don’t think I would have opposed this charter school application had we been in much more flush times for the school district. I think I would have remained largely apathetic to charters, their existence would make little impact on my life which is generally the gauge of how involved people get in issues. So with that…the lead up to what Alameda Naytiff has asked for.
I need to caveat this information by saying that I don’t think it was the intent of ACLC to have the demographics turn out the way that it is. I don’t believe that they are trying to create an all-white enclave to get away from all the black, brown, and yellow children, but I think their inability — despite being the in West End for the whole of their existence — to get a more representative population is a huge failure. And the fact that they are not held accountable, even though it is required by charter school law, is also a huge failure. From the UCLA Charter School Study:
…It is important to remember that the California law states that all charter schools should include in their chartering petitions the means by which the school “will achieve a racial and ethnic balance among its pupils that is reflective of the general population residing within the territorial jurisdiction of the school district to which the charter petition is submitted.” …
Of course what is pretty vague about this statement is whether the school needs to reflect (1) the general population or (2) the school district population. If we gather that it is the school district population, then they have failed miserably. But even if we are talking about the general population they have also failed by substantially under-representing the Asian population. The UCLA study points to the ability of these charter schools to shape their population because of their flexibility in the enrollment effort including recruitment, etc… A lottery, while “fair” but as mentioned by someone else earlier if it draws from already skewed population will only result in a skewed school population.
If there is no accountability for something as simple to measure and resolve as demographics and ethnic make-up, what about something much harder to measure, such as student achievement? While some parents interested in charter schools talk about the “failures” of the traditional public school system, do they understand — or does anyone understand how the successes of this particular charter school are measured and how that stacks up against kids in the traditional public school?
So with that, here it is, I broke down the information by school grade and what attendance zone the students come from, you can draw your own conclusions from the data. I did create a little pictorial representation rather than just throw a bunch of numbers at you. There is an ethnicity legend for those not familiar with all the faces.
Here is the link to show where on the Island the ACLC students reside:
http://mikemcmahon.info/Demographic07b.pdf (page 96)
And no I am not providing a legend of what a West End/East End person looks like.
Comment by Mike McMahon — January 3, 2008 @ 7:51 am
Thank you, Lauren. Fascinating. I know that it took a lot of work.
The Ed. Code requires that charter schools reflect the community’s diversity because the community is being asked to turn over millions public tax dollars to a private group and needs to insure that the benefit from those dollars will be for the entire community, not just a sliver of it.
It appears to me that the applicants are trying to massage the data in order to gain approval and I hope that the school board does a thorough investigation of the application and its supporting data. For example, why will NCLC have a demographic any different than ACLC? Applicants tout the waiting list for ACLC which they claim is 63 percent non-Causasian, yet ACLC is 64 percent Caucasian. Why does the actual enrollment differ from those seeking to enroll?
The applicants claim that they wish to reflect the cultural diversity of the west end, yet ACLC draws as many students from Bay Farm as it does the west end. ACLC may be in the west end, but its demographics are not of the west end.
The approval of the charter will likely result in the closure of a neighborhood school. Remember the ruckus when some parents at Edison thought that some of the neighborhood children may not be able to attend the neighborhood school? What happens when a school closes and none of the children can attend the neighborhood school?
I do not think that charter schools can overcome the founder effect. Public schools may have dominant cliques, but charter schools are cliques. For it to be different, the founders would have to come from diverse ethnic, racial and class backgrounds with different social networks. Advertising and outreach may help, but this is essentially a word-of-mouth enterprise that will reflect the social networks and social values of its originators.
Before we hand over millions of tax dollars to a private group, we need to make sure that the entire community will realize a benefit.
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 3, 2008 @ 8:36 am
Is it possible that the demographics of the proposed charter are based on signature collecting outside of a west end super market?
On a recent trip to my local supermarket (Lucky’s in Maarina Village–the only supermarket in the west end) three staff members, including the director and the African-American spokesperson at the board were there, with clipboards, stopping shoppers, asking them to read and sign something–somehwat reminiscent of the paid signature collectors for getting all kinds of things on the California ballot.
Comment by Barbara Kahn — January 3, 2008 @ 9:17 am
Sorry but those just don’t look right to me. Looking at Lauren’s graphics… check out 6, 7, and 8th grade for Wood attendance area. 8th looks VERY different (and looks more like Lum)…. the 6th grade breakout just couldn’t be right. (not saying Lauren made the mistake, but something wrong here)
Comment by Jack B. — January 3, 2008 @ 9:27 am
#3
The demographics of the proposed charter, as stated in their application:
“The new school will attract learners who come from groups who are historically academically low achieving. The 6-12 portion of the new school will seek to recruit the 150 learners on the ACLC wait list, 63.4% of whom are non-Caucasian. The new school also will actively market in Alameda and neighboring communities to attract a diverse learner population reflective of the AUSD’s diversity. The school will attempt to obtain a facility in the geographic West End of Alameda where most of these learners live.”
If you examine the rest of the report, that number may not hold up as 24.4 percent of that 63.4 percent appears to come from a category they call “multiethnic.” Since multiethnic is not defined, but included in the non-Causasian computation, one can assume that it means mixed-race. I hope that the school board questions that number.
A good follow-up question would be if 24.4 percent of those seeking to enter ACLC are of mixed race, then why doesn’t the current ACLC enrollment reflect that percentage?
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 3, 2008 @ 10:12 am
More analysis using Lauren’s numbers:
Those attending ACLC grades 6-8 from the Lincoln area are 80 percent white, though Lincoln is only 38 percent white. Lincoln is 40 percent asian, yet asians from the Lincoln area make up only 13 percent of grades 6-8 at ACLC.
Encinal High School is 19 percent white, yet those attending grades 9-12 at ACLC from the Encinal High attendance zone are 68 percent white.
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 3, 2008 @ 2:06 pm
Why is this such a quagmire of a situation? If people are so incredibly concerned about having absolutely perfect, completely racially mixed schools with an absolute equal ratio of ethnic groups per class, then I suggest instead of trying to focus on charter, public, or whatever ‘ingenius’ program divulged…. why not suggest integration programs?
I mean- seriously. When I was a high schooler, the school I went to was predominantly white. Not because the school didn’t allow anyone else, but because the area was populated by mostly old family Skotch-Irish descendants. There was a concern about this. To rectify the problem, integration programs were developed to bus in students from other parts of the area, meaning some were driven as much as 30 miles each way. This was voluntary program where parents who wanted their children in a different ethnic environment could choose to do so. It worked out ok in the end. But there were options that allowed people to have that choice. It didn’t involve alternative schools either.
I’ll say it again: If you really want to provide a positive environment for your kids and have better education opportunities, then California isn’t the answer because as mentioned numerous times, this state’s schools are ranked 47th in the nation. Way to go.But of course I must be wrong because why else would people pay so much to live here?
Comment by edvard — January 4, 2008 @ 8:10 am
I’m curious about the graduation rate at ACLC. That is, for however many incoming 6th graders or 9th graders (better) how many graduate, and go to college or university? My sense is that it isn’t a high percentage. A very high percentage of graduates go to university, but how many actually graduate?
This would prove or deny the claim that ACLC is basically a way to filter out poor performing students and is a program for gifted children. There is still the self-selecting nature of parents who apply, but ACLC cannot be held responsible for that.
The racial argument is a little weak, I think. If admission is by lottery then it will reflect the make up of the parents who apply, a self-selected group. The disparity in outcome indicates but does not prove a cultural hostility to minorities. It is also possible that the methodology works best for certain cultural backgrounds.
I don’t want all of the schools to each have the exact school district average racial mix. I want a variety of educational methodologies, a variety of environments, and a variety of opportunities for any given child to find the right place for them. Each child will have their own learning style, part of this is nature, how they are wired. But part of it is nurture, how well educated their parents are being the largest influence, but there are myriad other influences. Many of these are ethnically based. So a school that uses a pedagogy that works well for first or second generation Asian kids should have more Asians in their school. A different approach is needed for poor kids than for rich ones. Their lives are very different and they need different services at their schools.
The problem comes in when the school at the rich end of town is a beautiful and well maintained facility while the one on the West side is old and leaky. If the veteran teachers are all at the advantaged kids’ schools and the first year and non-credentialed ones are at the disadvantaged schools, then there is bias and legitimate complaints of discrimination could be made. It is up to the school board to ensure uniform facilities and to give incentives to their skilled teachers to work with the disadvantaged kids. An individual school, however, short of active discrimination, should not be held accountable for who chooses to go there.
Comment by Eric Strimling — January 9, 2008 @ 10:10 pm
Eric,
We know each other. Trust me when I tell you that Alameda high leaked continually in the stair wells until very recently. To me the Encinal campus is more dowdy, but unless we consolidate that inequity cannot be ameliorated over night.
Critics of ACLC have a number of criticisms. Our challenge has been to debunk the charter application because we feel the negative impacts on a much larger pool of students out weighs the positive impacts for the relative few in the charter system. Using the charter mandates for ethnicity set by the state and discussing how ACLC fails to meet them after ten years, as well as to speculate why we think NCLC will also fail is simply a good debate tactic in trying to undermine the NCLC position.
Speaking for myself, I don’t wish to bash ACLC or participating parents as racist, nor do I wish to try to project poor motives on this group, such as wishing to keep ones child away from any other ethnicity.
If you use class as a meter I get a little more strident because I do feel some folks have elite attitudes about allowing the supposed brightest to excel unencumbered, so to speak, by less talented students.
I definitely support innovative programs like those at ACLC, but have questions about charter schools as a means for delivery. I also question ACLC’s objectivity in judging their own program and it’s over all impacts.
As for the race issue being weak, the district’s 13 points for denying the charter put more emphasis on the specifics for implementing K-5 as weak.
Comment by Mark I — January 10, 2008 @ 8:57 am
Re # 9
“If you use class as a meter I get a little more strident because I do feel some folks have elite attitudes about allowing the supposed brightest to excel unencumbered, so to speak, by less talented students”.
I guess by your definition, I’m an elite because I want my kids to excel unencumbered by anything except their own limits.
Comment by Jack Richard — January 10, 2008 @ 9:29 am
#10 Jack, “I want my kids to excel unencumbered by anything except their own limits”. Nice ideal. Want for your kids what you will, but we don’t live in a vacuum. There are personal limits and environmental limits like being on low end of the socio-economic ladder. The latter are not untouchables of some cast system are they?
Comment by Mark I — January 10, 2008 @ 1:04 pm
Mark:
Does being lower on the socio-economic ladder mean you can’t do your homework? Does it mean you can’t make sure your kids do their homework? Does it mean you can’t follow your child’s progress daily? Does it preclude free will?
It might mean you can’t afford a new laptop (though if you can afford a child you probably afford a used one for $100). It might mean you can’t afford Kumon. But does it mean you can’t try? Last I checked effort & committment were free.
Comment by dave — January 10, 2008 @ 1:25 pm
#12
It isn’t that simple. Parents may want to help their children but lack the time or education to do so effectively. Other parents may be too dysfunctional to help. This isn’t something that children can control. They may live in an overcrowded household that is chaotic. It isn’t about making excuses; it is about recognizing the real world. There is also quite often a cultural gap between immigrant parents and their children that causes strains in the family. What I really think is needed is a way to improve the education of the parents so that they can more effectively help their children. Some parents take ESL or similar classes, but others are struggling working 14-hour days, seven days a week to make ends meet. Many parents are trying, but sometimes their best isn’t enough.
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 10, 2008 @ 2:13 pm
Yes Tiff,,,, we must improve those parents… good luck with that.
Comment by Jack B. — January 10, 2008 @ 2:25 pm
#10
“I guess by your definition, I’m an elite because I want my kids to excel unencumbered by anything except their own limits.”
This whole matter has been turned on its head. We move beyond limits when we work together. The more isolated we are the more limited we are. Each generation stands on the shoulders of those who came before. My life becomes much more limited if I cannot leave my house because the streets are flooded and the electricity no longer works.
“In a competitive, individualistic society like the U.S., the “entirely self-made” myth is seductive. It gives us the pleasure of taking credit for our successes. It also mitigates the guilt that can come from recognizing our own class privilege. The “entirely self-made” myth is handy for both self-congratulation as for self-absolution.”
http://www.commondreams.org/archive/2007/11/07/5075/
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 10, 2008 @ 3:32 pm
Hi Mark, glad to see you’re still an activist.
I was referring more to the elementary schools in my facilities comment, but also to education in general. The schools with rich demographics get soccer balls donated, playground equipment built, multiple committees made up of stay at home parents and high level professionals working hard to improve their own children’s education. As they should, of course, who wouldn’t? But the poor kids’ parents both work at least full time, didn’t get a good education themselves and so have less idea about what is involved. The worst problem is that they get beaten down into low expectations, so they don’t get as fighting mad as the rich ones. And so what if they did? How many are lawyers who can donate time? How many are project managers who know how to organize a campaign? So the politicians know that if they transfer a good teacher out of Earhart or cut back on gardening at Edison they’ll get a fire fight, but if they do the same on the West end, they’ll get a few letters, maybe a denunciation at a school board meeting, but nothing to really worry about. So they need to be extra careful, show ‘bias’ in order to ensure equal resources.
Using the race argument when what you mean is “we need the money for our kids, don’t give it to them” is a little disingenuous. As you know, money is not a qualified reason for denial. Does anyone in this group send their kid to Encinal? Why not? If not, can you really make the race argument? We live on a small flat island so geography is not a good enough reason. Bay Farm and East End parents somehow get their kids to ACLC, Encinal isn’t far from there.
I do think that the staff report identified real problems with the proposal. The many anecdotes of chaos at ACLC plus the heavy dependence on Encinal for University qualifying classes does not add up to a “trust walk”. Plus the basic principle of student governance obviously doesn’t work at the elementary school level.
That said, Betsy Weiss is a fabulous educator. Multi-grade education is a great model and more choice is better than less. I just think she allied herself with the wrong group this time. Paul and Maafi are arguably geniuses but they are also arrogant. This is the source of their boldness but it cost them this time.
Anyone know where I could get the data to work out my graduation rate question?
Comment by Eric Strimling — January 10, 2008 @ 8:13 pm
# 11 Mark, What did you want for your kids? Did you keep telling them they’re the untouchables in a caste system and did they start believing it? Personal limits, you bet there are. Environmental and socio-economic limits, baloney. Did you tell them to clean up their plate because there were starving kids in China or did you starve them so they could feel the pain?
#12/15 ANT, why is it any of your business to decide whether or not any parents subscribe to your version of what’s best for their kids? Are you the queen ant?
Comment by Jack Richard — January 10, 2008 @ 8:43 pm
#17
“ANT, why is it any of your business to decide whether or not any parents subscribe to your version of what’s best for their kids? Are you the queen ant?”
It is my business because they are using my money. I pay just as much to support the public schools as they do. They are free to spend their own money as they wish.
Why are you so unsympathetic to children who come from difficult circumstances? What caused you to beoome like that?
(I can ask loaded questions too.)
Comment by Alameda NayTiff — January 11, 2008 @ 6:04 am
Whoa, ANT, I didn’t realize they were using your money, I thought it was money ‘in-common’. Bet you’d rather use your common school money to expand your limits by gutter cleaning and power generation. I’m equally sympathetic to all children especially to those who are special. (loaded answer)
What made me unbecoming like that? Why because, like everyone else, I was born special.
Comment by Jack Richard — January 11, 2008 @ 8:55 am