Bill Fischer: RI Needs Achievement First
Friday, October 14, 2011
In a recent MINDSETTER™ piece, Aaron Regunberg made a number of statements regarding a proposal to locate an Achievement First operated Mayoral Academy in Providence that need to be addressed. It has come to my attention, that prior to authoring his piece, Mr. Regunberg requested a tour of an Achievement First school candidly admitting, “having never been to an AF school, I really don't know enough to make a completely informed decision.” He also acknowledged having a bias on the issue, but stated a desire to refrain from “acting on biases.”
Regrettably, before touring one of Achievement First’s schools he has not refrained from acting on his biases. In failing to take his own advice, Mr. Regunberg has done a disservice to the public discourse surrounding this proposal.
The Truth About Achievement First
If you are a parent of a school age child in Providence, you have likely heard about an effort supported by Mayor Taveras, members of the City Council, the Providence School Board, and Superintendent Lusi to open an Achievement First operated Mayoral Academy in Providence.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTAchievement First is a non-profit charter management organization that was started by educators and community leaders in New Haven with a mission to close the achievement gap and deliver on the promise of equal educational opportunity for all children, regardless of race, economic status or zip code. Achievement First schools are public schools.
With a college-preparatory focus, Achievement First’s innovative approach is attaining academic gains throughout their network of 20 public charter schools, which educates approximately 6,200 children in historically low-performing and underserved neighborhoods in Connecticut and New York.
Specifically, the Achievement First approach involves:
- A longer school day/year, providing students with more time on task and intense intervention when they are struggling so that no child falls through the cracks.
- Recruiting and developing successful teachers and school leaders.
- Creating a joyful school culture where it is “cool to be smart.”
Some of Achievement First’s successes include:
- 82% of their 4th graders in NY reached proficiency in Math, double the rate of their host districts.
- 100% of 10th graders at Achievement First’s New Haven High School scored proficient in Writing and achieved the second highest writing performance in the state out of 195 Connecticut high schools.
- For the 2nd year in a row, 100% of the scholars graduating from Achievement First's New Haven High School were accepted into competitive four-year colleges and universities.
An Environment Primed for Learning
The most egregious portion of Mr. Regunberg’s commentary relates to Achievement First’s discipline policy. Having visited the Amistad Academy, I can attest that students are not sent to detention for such arbitrary actions as “dropping pencils or slouching.”
In reality, Achievement First works hard to create a learning environment that is highly engaging. It is true they have a rigorous and straightforward discipline system, but it is a system that is fair and lets students know exactly what is expected of them. Policies are focused on creating a safe and productive learning environment where every student can thrive. Students are expected to show respect for themselves, their peers, and their teachers.
Tellingly, Achievement First consistently receives high satisfaction ratings in parent surveys from the over 6,000 parents they partner with across Connecticut and New York. In a recent survey, 91% of Achievement First parents said “my child goes to a great school.”
Financial Impact on Providence
Another misinformed statement presented by Mr. Regunberg is that funding Achievement First will adversely affect the school district. This premise is false for a number of reasons. Achievement First will serve as a public school serving public students. Under the new equitable school funding formula, the money follows the child. If a tax-paying parent wants the option of sending their child to a high-quality public mayoral academy they should have that opportunity. Moreover, I would suggest the nearly 5,000 students left on waiting lists last year to get into Rhode Island’s charter schools may disagree with Mr. Regunberg’s proclamation that choice isn’t a problem.
Additionally, under the new school funding formula Providence is slated to receive an additional $150 million in funding over the next seven years.
Those truly concerned about the financing of public schools should be asking the question: “How much longer can we continue to pour money into a system that is failing so many children, particularly the impoverished and members of the minority community?”
An Opportunity for Collaboration
Mr. Regunberg’s piece also fails to take note of the successes taking place in the Blackstone Valley and the relationship developing there between the Blackstone Valley Prep Mayoral Academies, other charters and its host districts.
Similarly, Achievement First’s intention is to be part of the solution in Providence and their goals are not limited to only improving the education of the students in their schools. They have a track record of working with district partners in a manner that enhances the host school district overall and accelerates improvement for all students.
For the last two years, Achievement First has worked alongside the superintendents in New Haven and Hartford to design a unique program to recruit, train and support a corps of outstanding principals and assistant principals for those two districts called the Leadership Residency. This is precisely the type of collaboration they hope to bring to Providence.
English Language Learners (ELLs) and Special Needs Students
Despite Mr. Regunberg’s claims to the contrary, both Achievement First and the Rhode Island Mayoral Academies are committed to providing a high-quality public education to every scholar that enrolls, regardless of their unique needs or physical challenges, and employ targeted outreach strategies aimed at encouraging ELL and special education enrollment.
To recruit ELL students, Achievement First produces marketing materials, including brochures, flyers, letters, ads, Web copy and applications, in both English and Spanish. Here are some of the results of their efforts during the past school year:
- 25% of the kindergarten students who accepted seats at Achievement First’s Bushwick Elementary School self-identified as ELL, compared to 19% in the district.
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On the recently released NYC Department of Education Progress Reports:
- Achievement First Bushwick earned full credit for exceptional gains of English Language Learning (ELL) students, defined as scoring in the top 20% in the city, in both English and math.
- Achievement First Endeavor earned full credit for exceptional gains of special education students, defined as scoring in the top 20% in the city, in both English and math.
Mayoral Academies Provide Public Accountability
In his piece, Mr. Regunberg also suggests the proposed school would have no public accountability; nothing could be further from the truth.
An Achievement First Mayoral Academy in Providence would be overseen by a public board and chaired by Mayor Angel Taveras. The board would meet publicly and record and post meeting minutes in a public manner.
Furthermore, mayors who choose to become directly involved in education are visible and accountable to voters; just as importantly, Achievement First is and always will be accountable to the students and parents they serve.
Why Protect the Status Quo?
To change the current structure of public education, we must embrace innovation and work together to identify both failures and solutions alike. It saddens me that so much energy is exhausted by those attempting to protect a system that fails millions of children across America year in and year out.
With things going as poorly as they are in many of our public schools, how can we not embrace change? How can we stand by as a community and accept that thousands of children emerge from Rhode Island public schools every year that are not prepared to enter the work force? Currently, one in three students in Providence fail to graduate from high school.
Meanwhile, as we continue to hear the tired excuses for our collective failures – a lack of parental involvement, poverty and inadequate resources - the truly important variables have been metered out of the equation - length of school year, length of school day and teacher quality.
Find Out For Yourself!
To learn more about Achievement First and their successes in Connecticut and New York visit their Web site, www.achievementfirst.org, or better yet, go visit one of their schools.
As for Mr. Regunberg, despite the misinformation you have perpetuated, Achievement First would still like you to come down and visit one of their schools. I hope you take them up on the opportunity to tour the Amistad Academy in New Haven. If you do, I am confident you will quickly find out that Achievement First is comprised of passionate and caring educators who have created an exceptional learning environment for their students.
Bill Fischer is the spokesperson for the Rhode Island Chapter of Democrats for Education Reform
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