State senator warns of school issues leading to divisiveness

On Dec. 3, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a complaint with the U.S. Office of Civil Rights, saying that Delaware’s charter school law had “contributed significantly to the resegregation” of state schools.

Among the schools named in the complaint was Sussex Academy, a charter school in Georgetown that lies within the Indian River School District.

So it wasn’t surprising that charter schools and the ACLU’s recent action sparked questions for state Sen. Bryan Townsend, D-Newark, at a recent dinner meeting of the Sussex Progressive Community.

Townsend’s talk, before about 90 people at Fish On near Lewes, focused on education, which he called “the most important issue in the state and country.”

He touched on many topics, including testing, funding, Common Core, the consolidation of school districts, and the length of both the school day and year.

But what struck me most was a warning: Don’t let what happened in New Castle happen in Sussex.

“Schools,” he said, “should be vibrant centers of the community.”

In New Castle, that’s no longer true.

“Right now you have a system that is so divisive,” Townsend said. “It’s antagonistically competitive. I knock on doors in my Senate district, and kids and families don’t know each other the way they used to when I was growing up.”

“You have families in the neighborhood going to six, seven, eight, nine different schools - public, private, vo-tech - and so you don’t know each other,” he said. “The anonymity is startling and troubling. We need more community cohesion.”

Unfortunately, charter schools, whatever their merits, contribute to that lack of cohesion. New Castle County has 16 charter schools to Sussex County’s single charter.

In New Castle, he said, “We’ve passed the tipping point. There’s so much division, it’s kind of a Wild West.”

Townsend said he didn’t reject charter schools “out of hand,” but warned that we need to look at the details.

“When I read an editorial where a charter school is justifying its mission on the basis of things that frankly should apply to every single school in our system,” he said, “I just stop and wonder.”

He referred to a full-page response to the ACLU complaint by Mariah Calagione, president of the Sussex Academy Executive Board, and Patricia S. Oliphant, Ed.D., school director, that appeared in the Jan. 23 issue of the Cape Gazette.

Here’s an excerpt from that article about the school’s approach to education:

“The school provides a hands-on and authentic learning experience in a personal, student-centered environment. Sussex Academy is designed to provide high-quality curriculum and instruction so that all its students are college and career ready,” wrote Calagione and Oliphant.

Any traditional school in Delaware could claim that as its mission.

Here’s another: “We believe that hiring and keeping the best teachers are the cornerstones for quality instruction.”

No argument here. But again, what school wouldn’t make a similar claim?

Townsend was also troubled by the skewed demographics of charter schools, the reason behind the ACLU complaint.

Here’s how the demographics break down for Sussex Academy vs. the Indian River School District.

For Sussex Academy, 81 percent of students are white; 3 percent black; and 7 percent Hispanic.

For the Indian River School District, 53 percent of the students are white; 14 percent black; and 27 percent Hispanic.

(The numbers don’t add up to 100 because there are further subgroups.)

These figures show huge disparities in the schools’ racial makeup. That’s why the ACLU is concerned about a return to segregation.

In their commentary, Calagione and Oliphant stressed Sussex Academy’s efforts to reach out to minorities and congratulated the school on its success: “It is accurate to state that Sussex Academy has approximately twice as many minority enrollees as it once did,” they wrote.

That sounds like the school has made great strides in increasing diversity, but the raw statistics tell a different story.

In 2003, according to Department of Education statistics, Sussex Academy had 281 white students, nine African-American students and 11 Hispanic students.

Ten years later, in 2013, the school had 295 white students, six African-American students and 16 Hispanic students.

School enrollment figures for the years 2001 through 2013 don’t indicate a trend of higher minority enrollments. (Check the numbers yourself at the ACLU and School Digger websites.)

Here’s another telling statistic. The percentage of low-income students is 11 percent at Sussex Academy vs. nearly 47 percent for Indian River.

That brings up another concern: Are charter schools, in effect, private schools funded by the public?

In their commentary, Calagione and Oliphant denied this argument: “Any claim that Sussex Academy has an exclusive entrance process is not true,” they wrote.

But a closer look suggests otherwise. To register for traditional public schools, all you need to do is fill out a state form with the basic information: age, address, school records, etc.

Filling out the state form is just the beginning of the process for entering Sussex Academy. According to the ACLU complaint, the state permitted Sussex Academy to “grant a preference to students who expressed an interest in the school’s teaching methods, philosophy or educational focus.” Aspiring academy students are required to write an essay on that topic.

Parents are also asked to write a paragraph explaining why Sussex Academy would be a good choice for their child and to answer questions such as, “Does your child respond positively to instructional challenges?”

In addition, parents must pay a $200 to $225 annual activity fee.

Calagione and Oliphant said the school will assist those who need help filling out applications and will waive the activity fee for students with financial hardships.

Which is good. But it doesn’t change the fact that Sussex Academy’s policies weed out lower-income students. Traditional schools also serve a much higher percentage of students with special needs.

In its complaint, the ACLU asks for a moratorium on new charter schools until a desegregation plan can be implemented.

In his talk, Townsend said citizens with concerns about educational issues must hold their elected officials accountable.

And if we don’t, we could find ourselves as divided as New Castle County.