By Matthew Ladner
Hello, Arizona charter leaders! I wanted to send you a quick note to say how very happy I am to be on board at the Arizona Charter School Association, and why I think both your work as educators and the work of the association are so vital. Arizona’s charter schools are extraordinary, and this is about far more than test scores. Far more.
The greatest feature about Arizona charter schools in my opinion: pluralism. Our state is diverse, our families have wildly varying priorities and preferences, and our students possess different aspirations. Arizona charter schools have been at the vanguard of creating meaningfully diverse schooling options. Some Arizona charters focus on the arts, others on STEM, others on equestrianism, others on classical education. Many Arizona charters focus on giving students with troubled academic careers a second chance, others on back- to- basics education. Recent years have seen the advent of charter schools focused on helping students with disabilities.
We as a country are in a bad habit of looking at test scores in an unsophisticated way and then referring to some schools as “good” and others “bad.” A better way to think about this is: good or bad for whom? Around the country we have children in schools with low average test scores getting exactly what they need for long-term success. We have moreover no shortage of students in schools with high average levels of performance who are miserable, getting themselves into trouble, and who (rationally) yearn to be elsewhere. The real world doesn’t operate on averages- it is about real children and getting as many of them as possible the knowledge, habits and skills necessary for success in life.
Arizona’s education system gives more ability to families to sort these things out for themselves. Many more families, however, benefit from simply having the option to attend another school. When my children needed a different option, Arizona charter schools came through for us. I will always be grateful for that.
Resiliency is another reason to admire Arizona charter schools. The Great Recession was incredibly tough on the state. General revenue dropped 20 percent in a single year while demands on school grew. States don’t have a printing press for money in the basement of the State Capitol. Arizona schools endured real cuts in spending. Arizona charters got less on average to begin with and endured cuts as well.
Rather than wilt and die, the Arizona charter school sector came through this crisis stronger than ever. Yes, tough times, slowing enrollment growth and lower funding ushered in closures. The crisis also created opportunities. Some of our single- site schools managed to access capital to move into larger facilities during the period of depressed property values to serve more students. Others replicated their schools. The charter sector grew stronger, as did Arizona education overall.
It’s not just me who thinks highly of your work- Arizona parents obviously do as well. A 2019 parent survey conducted by Ed Choice in Arizona found that 82 percent of Arizona charter parents were either completely or somewhat satisfied with their child’s school- a higher level of satisfaction than for either district or private schools.
As your not-so-secret admirer, I’m looking forward to the opportunity to meet more of the people doing this amazing work in the time ahead. I hope that you’ll find the research of the Arizona Center for Student Opportunity here at the Arizona Charter Schools Association to be helpful to you and your vital work.
