The Morgan Hill Unified School district is publicly discussing
two elementary charter school ideas: A proposal to turn a
neighborhood school
– likely Jackson Elementary – into a dual-immersion school; and
a proposal to turn the shuttered Burnett Elementary into a
”
professional development
”
school.
The Morgan Hill Unified School district is publicly discussing two elementary charter school ideas: A proposal to turn a neighborhood school – likely Jackson Elementary – into a dual-immersion school; and a proposal to turn the shuttered Burnett Elementary into a “professional development” school.
We are excited and concerned by both proposals. We acknowledge that charter schools are not panaceas, but done well – and with maximum flexibility – they can be a way to close achievement gaps, increase funding, and foster educational innovation.
For the dual-immersion school, we note that 50 percent of the staff would have to approve the conversion from a general education neighborhood elementary school; however, we are concerned that no such provision seems to exist for the families living in the neighborhood school’s boundaries.
A conversion to a dual-immersion school might be a good idea, but district officials must be cognizant that converting an existing neighborhood school dramatically affects the current and future students living within its boundaries. Because MHUSD requires families to pay for bus service, converting an existing neighborhood school to a highly specialized program that will likely not work for many of that neighborhood’s children ought to be undertaken very carefully. A change of this sort might be good for many, but it will be very disruptive for many others.
One of the main advantages of any charter school is its flexibility – and charters gain most of that flexibility because they are free from union work rules. At non-union charter schools, for example, if data shows that curriculum or teaching methods need to change, they change, without requiring time-consuming, conflict-inducing contract negotiations. If a teacher is not performing up to standards, termination is not a multi-year, several-hundred-thousand-dollar process.
If either of these proposals relies on union employees, the critically important flexibility benefit is likely to be greatly reduced. Unless the unions representing workers at charter schools accept wide-open work rules, the chief benefit of charter schools – flexibility – will not be realized.
We encourage the school district to pursue these ideas while mitigating the negative effects on existing neighborhood schools and maximizing the flexibility that is a charter school’s chief benefit.
