Commentary; Posted: 4/4/07
At LILA, Peterson shows positive parent power
Joe Nathan
Education Columnist
Just wish I could have taken every Minnesota parent and politician to an awesome event held last week in Forest Lake. More than 500 parents, grandparents, educators, kids and community leaders packed a gym to dedicate the conversion of a former hospital and clinic into the beautiful home of Lakes International Language Academy — a three-year-old charter public school.
Some may stop reading when they see the word “charter.” I hope they’ll read a bit further.
Parent Shannon Peterson, her coworkers and Lakes International are a perfect example of what Minnesota legislators hoped would happen when they created the nation’s first charter public school law in 1991.
Peterson, who mentioned that she was actually born in the room now serving as the school’s library, believed passionately in young children learning a second language (extensive research supports her opinion). She spent months on a task force trying to convince the district that a language-immersion option was a good idea.
Ultimately, the district declined.
But Peterson won an ally, Cameron Hedlund, another task force member who had been a district teacher and administrator, for more than 30 years. He joined her.
The school enrolls about 360 students. More than 450 students are enrolled for next year.
Forest Lake grandparent Shirley Hallberg proudly introduced me to her daughter, and her granddaughter, a Lakes International student. Her oldest granddaughter, a bright youngster who loves math and history and is taking Spanish at a district middle school, smiled, explaining that her younger sister sometimes helps her with Spanish, which they both study.
Keith Berrier drives his youngster 12 miles from White Bear Lake because “I’ve worked around the world, and learned how valuable a second language can be.”
Lakes International also enrolls some native Spanish speakers. One told me “it’s good to see my culture studied and respected, along with the American culture, which I love.”
Peterson and Hedlund’s energy, passion and persistence displayed are what legislators hoped to tap in adopting the nation’s first charter public school law in 1991. The charter idea has spread to 39 states and the District of Columbia. Charters now enroll more than 1 million students (up from less than 100 in 1992). In Minnesota, we’ve grown from one school to 131, and more than 23,000 students.
That growth frightens some educators. They joined last week with some Senate Democrats to adopt a moratorium: No more charters beyond those already operating and approved.
Some legislators of both parties disagree. House Education Chair Mindy Greiling called the moratorium a “loopy idea.” Forest Lake Rep. Robert Dettmer describes the school “a great option for families.”
Other educators and parents are hoping to: •open a suburban charter helping students diagnosed as attention deficit disorder; •create a school using the Mississippi River as a theme to help interest students in science, history, math and other vital subjects; •establish a Leech Lake charter, where too many Native American students are failing.
I wish every legislator had been in Lake’s gym last week. Minnesota should encourage, not block enthusiastic, thoughtful parents and educators - whether in the district or charter public school systems
Joe Nathan, a former public school teacher and administrator, directs the Center for School Change, Humphrey Institute, University of Minnesota jnathan@hhh.umn.edu.
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