Why I support Elizabeth Warren’s education plan:

I began my teaching career in the US by working for five years at a charter school in Boston. In that time, I came to appreciate how complicated and vexing the issue of school choice really is. 1/23

#EdChat #Warren2020

I loved the students at my school. They came from a variety of backgrounds and had a variety of abilities though we very seldom enrolled students with the highest needs like those I teach at the district school where I work now. 2/

All the students at my charter passed the state tests and nearly all of them went on to college. The guidance department did an amazing job cultivating relationships with colleges and ensuring the students didn’t take on unsustainable levels of debt to get their degrees. 3/

But each class shrunk, grade to grade. Black and brown students received more demerits and were suspended more often than their white classmates. Teachers worked long hours for less pay and were often dismissed without explanation or for dubious reasons with no recourse. 4/

I had complicated feelings as I watched all this happen, but complicated feelings were not very welcome at our school. And after five years, I suddenly and inexplicably started receiving lower evaluations. I was let go at the end of that year when my daughter was two weeks old.5/

I had amazing relationships with the parents who chose to send their children to our school. They appreciated my interest in their children’s lives and that I sought out opportunities for them, particularly in the arts and activism beyond the classroom. 6/

I loved how supportive these parents were and how committed they were to getting the best education for their kids. I didn’t always know what to tell them when they pushed back on the admin’s approach to discipline or curriculum design or extracurriculars or school meals, etc..7/

I was also very uncomfortable when the school would use class time and state funds to push political objectives on our students and families like the expansion of charter schools in Massachusetts in 2016. 8/

This experience, coupled with research in graduate school and contact with a growing movement of charter teachers working to unionize their schools, shaped my perspective on charters and school choice more broadly. 9/

I saw the value of charters like mine to parents whose kids were able to meet the strict behavioral expectations and high and narrow academic standards. I also saw the damaging impact we had on the many students who left our school or were pushed out at the end of each year. 10/

I concluded that while schools like mine do good work for some students who might not have access to the same opportunities in a district school, we needed to be held to higher standards aside from academic achievement. 11/

Someone needed to be holding the school accountable for the fact that they served 600 lunches a day in single-use non-recyclable containers. That they used 36,000 pieces of paper every three weeks for progress reports. 12/

Someone needed to hold the school accountable for disparities in graduation rates and discipline, and a racist and sexist behavior policy and dress code. 13/

Someone needed to hold the school accountable for a ballooning administration with 13 administrators making over 100k/year and teachers making significantly less than the district. Someone needed to protect the rights of those teachers to unionize. 14/

I know some of these issues exist in district schools, but because our school was not subject to local control, aggrieved parents, community members, students, and teachers had limited options to seek change. 15/

I also know that bashing charter school teachers and parents for their schools’ shortcomings (or for some, their school's mere existence) is not a sustainable way to build a coalition that seeks justice and equity in public education. 16/

Elizabeth Warren’s education plan addresses these concerns and points the way forward for how we build that coalition. It offers increased Title I and IDEA funding as well as special grants to every school, district or charter, that meets the same set of high standards. 17/

It explicitly affirms the right of all teachers to unionize, and calls on charter schools to add parents and community members to their boards. This will result in parents having *more* choice in how their children learn, not less. 18/

Her plan will pressure states to adopt more equitable funding models for under-resourced districts that so many parents and students are leaving when they enroll in charter schools, ensuring that charter schools can return to their original purpose. 19/

When the first charters opened, they weren’t intended to replace district schools and union teachers, but to provide a safe space to take risks, innovate, and offer unique and enriching academic and extracurricular programming to students. 20/

With a fully and equitably funded public education system, charters will no longer feel forced to stand in the breach while students leave districts that lack the resources to provide a great education to all students. 21/

With a fully and equitably funded public education system, districts will no longer see many of their most motivated and supportive families leave for charters while those with the highest needs remain. 22/

Warren’s plan supports every individual and organization pursuing education justice in good-faith by targeting those who seek to exploit the system for their own profit. All students, parents, and teachers will benefit in such a system, and so will our democracy! 23/