Adrianne Shropshire

Charter School Blues

For the past several months I've been hip deep in a parental "right of passage" that I never realized was so complicated or draining until it began. "The kindergarten" question has consumed my every non-working moment since the beginning of the year when I, like countless other parents, began the seasonal ritual of finding a new school for our 4 and 5 year olds.

Many parents add to this already stressful time by inserting private school options into an already complicated excel spreadsheet. For the most part, my excel matrix only included public schools. But having to research, visit, and apply multiple variables of "pro" and "con" to every school was enough to send me to bed at night in a cold sweat. And then another parent attempted to add another layer of complexity to my search by suggesting that I add charter schools to my list. She was considering one for her son and thought it might be a good placement for my child as well.

Because I had already (mostly) settled on a school I didn't give the charter option much thought beyond "what's the difference" and "what is the possible advantage". And then last week I came across a story that would have made the decision for me if my mind had not already been (mostly) made up.

It is the story of Williamsburg Charter High School in Brooklyn and a hapless teacher who dared to suggest that the school have a consistent salary scale and even perhaps, sshhhh, a union. For her concern for the working conditions of her fellow teachers (not so much herself, she was making about what unionized teachers make) Nichole Byrne Lau and two of her equally concerned colleagues were summarily dismissed by the founder and CEO of the school.

Their crimes? Nichole printed out and distributed the salary schedule for NYC public school teachers to her colleagues, another teacher asked why the employer 401k contribution was not showing up in reports, and yet another teacher asked if a salary schedule existed and how it had been set. Their questions were met, not a with a comradely meeting to resolve issues, but with a memo from the founder and CEO that essentially said, "this is my school and if you got a problem with it, come see me". Teachers did not need to make the decision to "come see him" because he began calling staff in for individual meetings. The outcome of those meetings for some teachers was a cool firing, and surely for others, it was a lecture on the consequences of trying to organize. Standard employer intimidation tactics.

This story would be bad enough if Nichole had not received outstanding evaluations, and high praise from her bosses and students. The CEO even stated that her work performance was not the reason for her firing, leaving no doubt that the reason was for daring to ask for "better" for her colleagues. But it turned outrageous and nasty in the post-firing panic by the CEO who attempted to slander her in the press by saying that Nichole hated children and was a racist. This, after her students organized a petition drive to have her reinstated.

So, what does this say to me as a parent? While I'm sure that there must be good charter schools out there the overall conditions can't bode well for a stable and consistent learning environment for children. Charter schools operate within an industry where standards for teacher compensation have been set by employers and unions, thus creating a "high road" approach for working conditions in this sector. When charter schools opt out of this approach they become no different than low road employers in any other industry.

The mission statement for Williamsburg Charter High School says that "Fairness, justice, respect and compassion..." are what the school is about. Asking teachers to impart these noble values to our children while they are denied them by the school administration, smacks of deep hypocrisy. Saying one thing while doing the opposite is not the lesson I want my children learn.

Adrianne Shropshire: Author Bio | Other Posts
Posted at 6:28 AM, Jul 05, 2006 in Labor
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