Someone sent a link to a private charter school with high achievement. It's set in Harlem, a city forged by segregation, so the whole story begins with layers of a racialized narrative. A woman who calls herself the CEO of this charter school talks about higher standards, ten hour work days, a no-nonsense approach to discipline. She calls it an act of social justice.
The results? Higher scores. Perhaps even higher learning. It begins within me a spiral of questions: To what extent are they actually reaching all students if they have such rigorous standards? What type of student volunteers for a ten hour a day program? What type of parent signs up for a charter school where they must volunteer a certain number of hours?
Is the learning authentic? Is it meaningful? Have they learned about life?
Eventually the questions stop and I wonder this: If the children were white and they lived in the suburbs, would anyone be advocating an education that pulls a child away from the home for eleven to twelve hours a day?
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