My family and I moved to Tooele a year and a half ago, leaving behind my job as a school psychologist. We needed to live near an airport so I could fly to different school districts and state departments. Tooele has been a nice fit for us.
When we moved here, our son was about to start kindergarten. Being a consultant in numerous public schools, and believing in the system, we entered our son into the school we are zoned for. Our son had a solid school year and when it came time for first grade, we asked friends and neighbors about what teachers to request and received a variety of complaints about the system.
In the aforementioned article, Superintendent Terry Linares was paraphrased as stating that the response to the charter school is causing the district to reflect on education in the district. That led me to the following observations:
The big reason I have heard why people put their kids on the intent-to-enroll forms for the charter school is the belief that this new school will provide their children with a better education. But what is the instruction going to look like? Is it truly going to be able to create an instructional match with each student? This is the same struggle public schools deal with, making an instructional match for each of the students in their classrooms. I did not consider the new charter school for my son, as I believe that the school will have to prove itself and provide professional development for its teachers to accomplish its mission statement. Will the educational philosophy be that different with a former public school administrator and teachers who have previously taught in the public school system? I hope so. Then again, it is not always the educational philosophy at fault, it is often the delivery of instruction.
Another reason I have heard frequently for intending to enroll in the charter school is that people believe their child to be gifted and beyond the level of challenge that the public school can offer. As a school psychologist, I feel this is a comical statement. I have assessed many students over the years and have found a few truly gifted students. I think the majority of parents believe their child is unique and special, as they should. Yet this belief has driven some parents to place blame on the schools — or anyone but themselves or their child — when their child struggles in school.
Another factor driving parents to look at the charter school is dissatisfaction with school district communication. I have been disappointed by the stories I have heard from parents in regards to how the principals of their schools communicate with them. Principals are supposed to be the instructional leaders in the schools. They should be out and about, visible and ensuring a proper education for each of our children. From my experience here, this is not taking place.
Does this communication responsibility only fall to the principals? No. It goes to the teachers, specialists, and especially the district staff. There is an open-door policy held in this district, yet a lack of open-door practice. The more secretive the district appears, the more public relations issues will arise.
Can the charter school address this basic problem?
The enthusiasm for the charter school is great, yet I think we need to look at the big picture and the practices we have in all our schools, the charter school included. The concern I see is that parents are feeling that moving to a charter school environment will automatically “fix” our children in and of itself. They should remember that intervention is not a place, but what happens at that place. Let us be realistic and work together to solve our educational problems.
Paul Lords, a Tooele resident, was a school psychologist in Humboldt County, Nev., and is currently an adjunct professor at Great Basin College in Elko. He advises the Nevada Department of Education regarding teacher instruction and school district progress.
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