NCLB Watch: CHARTERS AND INTEGRITY

Charters Schools Support Integrity

By Michelle Hammons

Public School Montessorian (Fall 2005) contained a discussion of the viability of Montessori education in the public sector. It left me with two thoughts on the subject: Not only is PUBLIC Montessori education viable, but it is becoming almost a necessity in the success of public education as a whole.

As a life long supporter of public education, when charter schools and vouchers were first introduced, I resisted supporting them because I viewed them as simply another nail in the coffin of public education. However, over the past seven years, working at three different charter schools, I see that they hold enormous potential for the success of Montessori public education.

Charter schools experience a sense of autonomy that our sister programs in district schools and magnet schools are not fortunate enough to share. Having worked in district-run Montessori programs, and charter programs in both Texas and California, I have seen how successful Montessori programs can be in the public sector. Fortunately, neither California nor Texas charter schools are mandated to follow the district curriculum. Aside from abiding by all state testing requirements and meeting the state standards, we are truly given the opportunity to educate children using the Montessori curriculum, and most importantly the philosophy.

A large part of the success of public Montessori lies in determining the essential elements that absolutely must be included, in order to have the "truest" program possible. If you get bogged down in details such as "the State Standards teach world history in 6th grade and we would present this in 4th grade," I think we lose our main focus. If we look to the philosophy-Dr. Montessori's main ideas and themes-we can sketch out how to bridge the two. We are charged with helping prepare our children for success, helping them to become independent, and giving them a sense of connection with all things. We are the gatekeepers to a world of learning for the love of learning. These ideas are not found only in classrooms that have a moveable alphabet, trinomial cube, or fraction circles. These ideas are found in classrooms that teach peacemaking skills, that allow students to discuss and investigate, and in schools where the children can make decisions about their own work. We must not get caught up in the curriculum to the point that we forget that Montessori goes so far beyond that!

Public Montessori programs across this country have proven time and time again that parents crave this choice. Whether the school is in Waco, Texas, or Walnut Creek, California, parents want their children to have this opportunity. They see that these schools are producing results-results that often include but are not limited to test scores. Every Montessori charter school which I have been a part of has had consistently long waiting lists. Public support and tested success of these programs prove that public Montessori is needed and is still viable. However, more than simply being viable, I believe that public Montessori programs are essential.

The rate at which public school districts are adopting the direct instruction curriculums offered by various publishers is quite disconcerting. As more and more public school districts go to "teacher-proofed" curriculum, we must find opportunities to give children and parents a public school choice. The idea that every second grader in an entire district is expected to be on the same page of a textbook at the same time on the same day is absolutely unconscionable. We must continue to advocate for children who cannot access private schools, to provide what we know is an excellent education for them. We must take the opportunity that public Montessori schools provide to help children learn to inquire about things, to learn to make choices, to become independent, to be unafraid to think, and to be respected for being individuals.

In Texas, I had the privilege of working in schools that served a large number of "at-risk" students. I know that we gave many of those children opportunities to look at learning in a different way, a positive way. Previously, in this very publication, there was an article about our school. I made a comment about a student who came to our school in 4th grade and was so scarred by the testing emphasis in the school she had previously attended that she hid under a table and cried when we started our test preparation. This same child left us with confidence in her abilities. Testing was just another class day to her. That is the way it should be.

In California, the student population at our school is much different. However, they are still children with needs. We give them an opportunity to grow, think and find a confidence within themselves that one rarely sees in the cookie-cutter classrooms of traditional schools. One example of this was during a presentation of the Great Lessons in our Upper Elementary class this fall. After the teacher had finished her part of the discussion, one student asked, "What caused the Big Bang?" Rather than the teacher answering the question, another student immediately responded with a wonderful explanation. As soon as his explanation was done another student commented about the validity of calling it a "Big Bang" since we would need sound waves to carry the sound of the bang and they weren't sure that sound waves existed at that point. These were primarily 4th grade students. Having worked with 4th grade students in traditional settings, I can tell you that level of confidence and discussion rarely happens. We are so incredibly fortunate to be part of schools where individual thought is not only allowed but encouraged.

Our school achieved the highest gains in our granting district again this year for our state testing scores. However, when parents comment on this, we try to remind them that these tests are only one part of what we do. We are certainly happy about the results because to the rest of the educational community it validates what we are doing every day. But when our staff hears discussions like the one mentioned above, or see children working together to harvest tomatoes and other vegetables from the student organic garden for lunch, or watch a peacemaker meeting in the Upper Elementary classroom, we know how successful we are.

As public schools become more limited in their curriculum and pressure for scores increases, talented, creative educators will become more and more frustrated. We all know that it is the students, especially those considered "at risk," or whose only choice for a quality education is the public system, who will suffer the most. We must continue to promote quality public Montessori programs in order to give true choice through the public schools.

So, public school Montessori educators, is there viability for Montessori in the public sector? There MUST be! We talk to the parents and teach the children the concept of 'freedom within limits' as it pertains to our classrooms. That same concept applies to Montessori education in the public sector. When we are granted the freedom to educate children using the philosophy that we so strongly believe in, we simply have to find a way to make it work within the limits public education demands. We must continue to fight for what we know children need, and provide it by using any and all avenues available through the public sector.

So, public school Montessori educators, perhaps the real question is not whether public Montessori education is viable, but which format provides the greatest opportunity for success. In the current atmosphere of standardized teaching as well as testing, I feel that the charter school movement holds the most potential. Charters are given a level of autonomy not found in district-run programs. They are given enough room to either succeed or fail on the merit of the program. Charter schools are also given greater freedom when it comes to staff and school organization. All public programs have limits. We are using the communities' money and given a task to accomplish. We talk to the parents and teach the children the concept of 'freedom within limits' as it pertains to our classrooms. That same concept applies to Montessori education in the public sector. When we are granted the freedom to educate children using the philosophy that we so strongly believe in, we simply have to find a way to make it work within the limits public education demands. However, as Richard Bach said, "Argue for your limitations and sure enough they are yours." We have the choice to say it cannot be done or to find the way to get it done. We must continue to fight for what we know children need, and provide it by using any and all avenues available to us through the public sector.

Michelle Hammons is principal of Eagle Peak Montessori School, a charter school in Walnut Creek, CA.