Where I Stand -- Mike O'Callaghan: Innovative charter schools are public school friends

THE OPENING of the I Can Do Anything Charter High School in Reno should be viewed as one more step toward the renaissance of public education. It shouldn't be treated as something designed to undermine public education any more than the use of improvement of SAT scores would be considered an enemy of the system.

Public awareness of school needs and shortcomings have nudged the public school system into improving itself. Certainly the recent changes here in Nevada have been positive and the public expects even more positive results down the road. Very simply, rather than throw roadblocks in the way of the new Reno school, public education leaders should closely watch it develop and evaluate what it produces. Its successes and failures should be used as basic information in the search for better public schools.

The teaching of single subject matter in four-hour blocks and completing a semester of work in one month will be a practice of the Reno charter school. Will this improve the testing score immediately at the end of the month? If the answer comes up yes, will the charter school student show equal or greater retention of the subject matter when compared to the public school student a year or two years later? A wise public school system will watch what happens in charter schools and see them as a laboratory that will benefit all Nevada students.

I refer to charter schools because there will be more of them in action at both ends of the Silver State next year and thereafter. They should be treated as equal education partners in the same manner that Nevada parochial schools have earned this respect over the past several decades. Of course, the charter schools, unlike the parochial schools, are using taxpayer dollars and therefore have been seen as an opponent rather than a partner by many Nevada Education Association members. Now it's up to the new schools to show their worth.

Smaller classes, a safe learning environment, zero tolerance of alcohol, drugs, and gang affiliation, more one-on-one time with teachers and the demand for learning a foreign language are all promises made by the Reno school. What parent wouldn't be impressed by these promises? This is exactly what they are hoping public schools will offer their children. Some do, but more don't.

Ian Hill, a hotel executive, has been the moving force behind the development of I Can Do Anything Charter High School. Hill isn't an enemy of public schools, but gives his high school coaches, counselors and teachers credit for his later success. He wants the Reno school to be a "tunnel of hope" for at-risk students. He believes many of these students otherwise would never have the opportunity to successfully receive a high school diploma and advance to higher education or a job.

The Los Angeles Times newspaper last spring best described charter schools when writing, "Despite profound differences in everything from lesson plans to student bodies, four charter schools that were granted new five-year mandates this week share one thing: They offer hope for reform in the beleaguered Los Angeles Unified School District. Not so much in what they do but in how they do it. Charter schools enjoy exemption from many state and district rules governing curriculum and funding -- giving principals, teachers and parents stronger roles in deciding how children are taught."

This was written when four of the first 15 charter schools were evaluated after five years and given an additional five years of life by the school district. All of the Los Angeles charter schools were different and reached their educational goals in different ways. These differences were noted but as the Times added, "Despite their differences, the programs share a sense of ownership. Teachers, students and parents believe they control the process and want it to succeed. At Fenton, co-director Joe Lucente told of a kindergarten teacher who fell down a flight of stairs and broke an ankle one Thursday. On Monday morning, she wheeled herself back into the classroom: She didn't want the school's workers' compensation insurance rates to increase. 'Those are the kinds of things that change when you're in charge,'" Lucente said.

Now that Reno's I Can do Anything Charter High School is under way, we, along with the Clark County School District, should look forward to the opening of some local charter schools. There's no doubt that we can all learn something from the process and eventual results. They aren't a threat to public schools and shouldn't be treated as an enemy. Certainly our public teaching institutions should value any new ideas and programs developed by the different charter schools. Also their failures can be valuable information for progressive public school teachers and administrators. Yes, charter schools can be used as one more step toward the renaissance of our public school system.

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