Why I voted for the Patrick Henry Charter contract

You're going to hear lots of discussion about tonight's school board vote that deadlocked over the signing of the Patrick Henry Charter school contract (4 ayes-4 nays-1 abstain, including my vote to approve the contract.) We're now in the heart of the election season, so lots of people are going to have something to say about what happened, with varying degrees of accuracy and, yes, even comments made with political motivations at the core. So I want to convey the rationale for my vote so that others don't have to speculate.

I voted to approve the charter contract because I believe that innovation is one way to get new families involved in RPS. I believe that this program had a grassroots, energized groundswell of people who wanted to try something new and were willing to invest considerable amounts of time to do that. I wanted to see how the unique approaches to public education worked in this setting and explore opportunities for expansion of successful measures.

I voted to approve the contract because it reflected the array of issues that must be taken care of in order to run any school. From transportation to school nutrition to special education services, there are many factors involved in running a public school, where admission isn't contingent on academic screening or ability.

I voted to approve the contract because the Patrick Henry folks had already agreed to the contract's provisions. They had weighed the elements involved in running a school as they considered the contract, so if they were willing to take on the diverse aspects of the job, I thought that they deserved the chance to follow through.

Tonight, I realized the decision-making process around charter schools is like walking a tightrope. Even when you try to lay the groundwork for the effort to succeed, you still have to balance the motivation do something new with the responsbility to fulfill all of the requirements of public education--and you're taking each step on an untested wire. Sometimes, you feel like you're learning from the effort involved and improving along the way. Other times, you just feel like someone's shaking the wire and you'll never be able to reach the other side. And sometimes, no matter how hard you've tried or prepared, you can't maintain the balance.

Tonight, I feel like I'm looking up at an empty wire, and I'm wondering how much damage has been done by the fall.

You can read about the vote at http://www.inrich.com/cva/ric/news.apx.-content-articles-RTD-2008-09-02-0217.html and the contract's available from the school board clerk at 780-7716.