Sara,
I hate to say it but I don't think you get it. It is not that NO inner city parents care about their children's education. It is just that their kids probably are the ones that are already doing well in school.
Your tone of your comments continue with the implication that failure is at the hands of the schools for not doing enough.
The problem is the children of the parents who DON'T seem to care about education. These children are the ones who run wild in school and yet the parents get more upset about their children not getting lunch on time.
Choice is great for families. The caring parents will work to get their children in better schools andb many of the ones left behind will be the ones who have no parental involvement at all or their parents see school as day care.

I want to make it clear. I do think that somethings are in the hands of school employees to improve. However, you can't teach in chaos and some of the attitudes we see in schools are beyond the control of teachers and in many cases even principals. You all have no idea how many parents tell us they don't know what to do about their child's behavior then tell us that in school it is on us to handle. If you can't control them as a parent, how can we control them. Of course there are always exceptions, especially when you have a particular adult that a child takes a liking to. However, I am an adult that believes in respecting adults and children and I can't tell you how tired I am of being disrespected on a daily basis. You could be the nicest, the meanest or the most fair teacher and with some students and parents nothing matters except those things that they perceive are important. In many cases, the quality of the childs behavior or education are near the bottom of the list. I have a hard time accepting poverty, classism and racism as excuses because there have been poor, lower class and minority people throughout time and in no time like the present has education or respect of others been so poorly valued.

The story about the lottery was painful. Maurice Chandler just from work and Maurice Jr. "inconsolable."

There is something perverse where this is the door to public education. An inauspicious dedicatory to a so-called "seed school."

Not only does it give lie to the damnation of inner-city parents, it gives lie to the notion that these are genuinely "public" schools.

This is hyper-segregated, apartheid schooling that leaves, as a matter of course, a young boy weeping and devastated. Separate and unequal.

Does it stink like rotten meat?
Or crust and sugar over—
like a syrupy sweet?

Maybe it just sags
like a heavy load.

Of course the parents flock to these schools new schools. If you could better your child's life without doing anything more than filling out enrollment paperwork, wouldn't you? The real question is why more parents can't hang in there with a troubled school and help it get turned around.

The kids without parents concerned or educated enough to change their schools will always end up in a handful of schools, where the star students leave as soon as possible. Some of the kids in my school are raising themselves. Who advocates for them getting a chance at a "good" school?

M:

What part of this isn't public? All students in 8th grade must fill out paper work to "apply" to high schools in the city. These schools (Innovation, Transformation, Charter, etc.) are on the list of choices and it takes no more effort to choose these schools than any other. They get public dollars at the same rate as all other schools, have no entrance requirements, use city teachers, and are for the most part (in the case of the innovation and transformation high schools) in city buildings. What's different here is the ability of the school leaders to:

1) Set a meaningful clear vision of what excellent education looks like
2) Interview staff with an idea of that vision
3) Set up a culture that reflects that vision
4) Have a curriculum that encourages reaching that vision
5) Have the autonomy to try things out as the needs arise
6) Be held accountable for failures

As the parent of 2 BCPSS students who attend charter schools and as someone who attended the students recruitment fair for the transformation schools, I know the fear of ALL parents as they think about where to send their children.

Have you visited these schools to find out who they take and how they manage to provide ALL students with excellence? I have, these schools do a few things that seem to consistently be missed by critiques:

1) Take ANY student who walks in the door - many of these schools receive title 1 dollars and while that isn't the only measure, it is an indication of poverty level
2) Attract some students who would otherwise be in private school which brings students, families and dollars back into the system
3) Offer hope to at least some students in this system.

My concern here comes from the fact that many seem satisfied that instead of serving some students well we serve all students poorly. Yes, it is hard on families when they don't get into to the school of their choice. But (and this is for transformation schools which are opening this coming school year) at least 1000 students will be in schools that offer promise - that's 1000 more than last year. And for those 1000 families that means a lot. Next year, with more transformation schools and charter schools coming on line maybe the number will double. Or with public support, triple, or... Well, you get the picture.

I remember when the first round of charter schools was approved and one of the Board members said that he was worried about creating "islands of excellence". My thought was that he must instead be satisfied with an ocean of mediocrity (actually I had another word, but I can't have that word on the blog). I know, I know, the argument is that ALL boats should rise at the same time. but lets' be real - it takes time for that ocean to rise. And it takes time for leaders to have a vision of how to make boats rise. And it takes support not to keep boats anchored to the bottom.