Commentary; Posted: 3/16/05
Enrollment growing at charter schools
Joe Nathan
Guest Columnist
Whatís behind the dramatic 72 percent increase in Minnesota charter public school enrollment over the last 4 years?
Itís good ideas, and hard-working people like Joy Carlson, Daniel DeBruyn, Isabelle Olson and Melissa Martyr-Wagner. So the number of Minnesotan students attending free, charter public schools increased from 10,162 in the 2001-2002 school year, to 17,441 this year. In that same period, district school enrollments declined from 831,355 to 809,787, about 3 percent.
Joy Carlson helped start North Lakes Academy, a charter middle school in Forest Lake. She describes what moved parents and teachers: ìWe started NLA to meet needs...it began with what we saw in our own children. We looked at traditional, large public junior highs and saw students getting lost in the shuffle. Our group of parents and educators wanted a learning environment where children would thrive, not merely survive.î www.northlakesacademy.org
Melissa Martyr-Wagner is one of the Forest Lake parents who has looked at research and believes youngsters will be better off if they know English and Spanish. The best time to learn a language is in the elementary grades. So Martyr-Wagner joined others to create the Lakes International Language Academy, an elementary school where students are learning English and Spanish. www.lilacademy.org
As she explained, ìwe went for what we wanted and needed...we did not want to be told we could not give our children the education we perceived as best.î
Dan DeBruyn is the administrator of the PACT Charter School in Ramsey. PACT stands for Parents Allied with Children and Teachers. PACTís founders wanted a small, college prep k-12 school with a real family atmosphere. They clearly have succeeded, with 540 students, and a waiting list of approximately 800 students. The school opened in Anoka, in 1994, and is one of Minnesotaís oldest, and most successful charter schools. www.pact.charter.k12.mn.us
Monticello parents like Isabelle Olson recognized the value of hands-on Montessori education. So, starting this fall, the SWAN River Montessori charter will be available for families. Itís a unique partnership between families and the city of Monticello. Students will be able to use physical fitness facilities at the Monticello Community Center, and Monticello residents will be able to use the historic, restored, Little White Church, which has been moved next to the center, and will be used for classrooms. 763-271-SWAN
Nationally, research is very clear about small, focused public schools. When students from similar communities are compared, smaller schools do better. They are safer. Students learn more. There is less violence. Attendance, achievement and graduation rates are higher. And smaller schools are NOT necessarily more expensive.
For more information on Minnesotaís charter public schools, please see the Profiles of Minnesota Charter Schools on the Center for School Change Web site ñ www.centerforschoolchange.org
Meeting needs. Using the best available research. Parents not being satisfied to complain, but doing the hard work to create. Itís not hard to understand why charter school enrollment increased by more than 3000 students in just the last year.
Editorís note: Joe Nathan directs the Center for School Change at the University of Minnesotaís Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs. He can be reached at jnathan@hhh.umn.edu.
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