Supporting schools that allow kids to think

I agree with what Mark Gailey recently wrote warning about conservative efforts to control the schools. To expand on the discussion, I think it is important that we not paint all charter schools (or public schools) with the same brush. Granted, there have been some charter schools that focus on conservative and religious indoctrination. But the same can be said of some traditional public schools. (Consider the current Supreme Court case regarding a football coach who coerced his students into praying at the 50-yard line after games.)

I serve on the Board of Directors of Wildflower Open Classroom Charter School in Chico. Based on my 50 years’ experience with public education, Wildflower is a superb model for education with its interdisciplinary, thematic, child centered, inquiry-oriented approach. Other great charter schools in Chico include (but are not limited to) Chico Country Day, Sherwood Montessori, Core Butte, and Inspire. There are also numerous outstanding schools in CUSD; witness, for example, recent E-R letters from Neal Dow Elementary School fifth graders voicing their environmental concerns in the public forum.

The charter movement was designed to support imaginative approaches beyond those of traditional public schools, where teachers are often handcuffed by archaic standards, textbooks, and tests. One needs to look individually at the curricula of particular charter schools (and traditional public schools). We must support those that allow kids to think, while opposing the ones that substitute indoctrination for learning.

— Stephen Tchudi, Yankee Hill