By William C. Shelton

(The opinions and views expressed in the commentaries of The Somerville News belong solely to the authors of those commentaries and do not reflect the views or opinions of The Somerville News, its staff or publishers.)

In June 2010 a group of parents who felt that the Somerville Public Schools bureaucracy had frustrated their many-years-long efforts to bring progressive education to Somerville came together. A number of them had children in the Choice program and had opposed its unification with the mainstream track at the Healey School. (See below for definitions.)

The Choice Program had been designed to offer progressive education. Advocates both for and against unification acknowledged that Choice’s effectiveness had declined substantially, in part because of the high turnover of principals.

The dissenters’ complaints were numerous and largely, I believe, understandable. A few examples:

• Kristof Brzezkinski is a well-educated immigrant and a parent. He invested himself in extensive efforts to improve Somerville Schools. He concluded that parents have little say in how our schools are planned and managed.

• Judy Schwartz’s son is in the Fifth Grade at the Healey. When he was in kindergarten, she advocated for beginning foreign language instruction in elementary school, when kids learn it more easily. The Healey School Council told her that doing so would be too expensive, but that it would begin in the 7th grade. This has still not happened, although the Healy does now offer one class per week in Italian.

• Most educators acknowledge that an important way in which kindergarten-age kids learn, and develop interpersonal and other skills, is through play. Maria West, a Somerville parent and early childhood development professional says that in Somerville Schools, there are no building blocks, dollhouses, and little-to-no time to play.

• Somerville’s MCAS scores are in the bottom 5% in the state.

Thirty remarkably accomplished adults decided to plan and propose a Commonwealth charter school. They care deeply about kids and education, and have collectively dedicated thousands of hours to their enterprise.

In July they filed a prospectus for the Somerville Progressive Charter School (SPCS), and November 7th, a proposal to the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, requesting that they be granted a charter. Their impressive proposal is viewable at http://www.somervilleprogressivecharterschool.org/, It incorporates remedies to each of their complaints.

Their teaching methodologies would include inquiry-based learning, collaborative learning among kids of mixed ages and cultural backgrounds, and extended learning time. The school would have a strong focus on science, technology, engineering and math. It would offer both native English speakers and those for whom English is a second language after-school enrichment programs in Spanish, Portuguese and French. Founder Ally Hines says that that they will build a democratic structure and culture and involve students in governance.

The proposal has its critics. Local education consultant Joe Beckman writes, “The plan is attractive, but really an almost random layering of innovation and reaction to innovation reflecting the past 40 years of educational models.” One could equally argue that they have culled best practices rather than swallowing a predigested model. Other critics believe that the proposed English Language Learner component is inferior to that currently conducted in Somerville schools, in which the district has recently made substantial improvements.

There is no question that in coming years, SPCS would siphon state funds away from Somerville public schools. SPCS aims to eventually grow its enrollment from 180 in the first year to 425 in 2018. If all students come from within the district, this would, over time, reduce Somerville Schools’ total budget by 10%. School officials say this could result in losses of 75 teachers, enrichment programs, and at least one elementary school. They may be overstating the impact, while SPCS founders are understating it.

School Committee Chairman Adam Sweeting says, “We can discuss economic and educational arguments. But the texture of the community would be altered in ways that are sad.”  This is my greatest concern, and I believe that the process has already begun.

SPSC leaders say that during their planning process, a founder proposed to School Committeeman Mark Niedergang that they create a Horace Mann school. (See sidebar.) Mr. Niedergang denies this.

More troubling to me is that SPCS founders say that they made extensive efforts to reach out to other parents prior to their late-September invitation to submit a proposal. From then until November 7th, they were consumed by preparing the 238-page document.

But I have spoken to perhaps a dozen parents who are active in school matters, and read emails from at least that many more. They all say that they did not hear about the proposal until three weeks ago. Several say that they have weekly contact with various SPCS founders, but never learned of their intent.

I am disappointed that the SPCSers withdrew their exceptional talents from the Choice program. Carrie Normand, who helped lead the Choice program’s transformation, says “They chose to work long and hard on their proposal the same year teachers, parents, community members and administrators were working hard redesigning the unified Healey to become a truly progressive school.”

Schools play a role in our city that goes beyond education. As the institutions that once nurtured community have disintegrated, schools are one of the only ways that families from disparate socioeconomic backgrounds connect and see things through each other’s eyes—where they understand that what they share is more important than their differences.

SPCS founders intend to build a community within their school, and I believe that they would succeed. But its members would be self-selecting, set apart from the broader community. Anyone could apply for the lottery that would determine admission. But which families would have the awareness and understanding to do so, and which not?

SPCS would inevitably develop important insights and innovations. Founder Ms. Hines, tells me “It is the purpose of a Charter school to share its research and it’s successes with any educational body that shows interest.” I admire her dedication and am certain of her sincerity. But it seems to me that without a systematic means of doing this, it wouldn’t happen.

Yet SPCS’s founders have already achieved significant accomplishments. A number of Somerville Schools’ personnel are acknowledging that while they have made progress, improvements have been insufficient and slower than they should be.

And the SPCS initiative has galvanized parents across the city. They have coalesced around a week-old organization. Progress Together for Somerville (PTS) already comprises 200 families and is growing rapidly. Its short-term focus is to “thoughtfully consider the [SPCS] proposal and effectively respond within the very short time period allowed…”

Long term, “we aspire to work together to engage our public schools and work towards a truly progressive system. We want all of our schools to be much better than they currently are….”

Despite the implied criticism, Mr. Niedergang says, “It’s great to have a city-wide parents group that will fight for quicker change and more improvement.”

School Committee Vice Chair Paul Bockelman says, “the genesis of the [SPCS] proposal and the immediate grass-roots reaction to it have changed the educational dialog within Somerville, much as Occupy Wall Street has changed the political dialog across the nation. Many people are talking about what ‘community’ means and about our education values.”

Michael Chiu founded somerville-4-schools in 2003. It’s an online discussion group with 400 participants. Because of Mr. Chiu’s reputation and past leadership, he unwittingly became the de facto PTS leader when news of the charter school proposal spread. He says, “For a highly emotional public issue, the discussion has been data-driven and factual. People have presented strong arguments but haven’t devolved into personal attacks.”

Mr. Niedergang sees the dispute as divisive and tragic. He fervently hopes for a negotiated solution.

I do as well. It offers a rare opportunity. Constituting the proposed charter school as a Horace Mann or Innovation school within the District would be a precious gift to Somerville. When disputants commit to listening to each other and working together to produce solutions that honor all parties’ experience, they create innovations that no one could have anticipated.

These negotiations would have to be concluded before the February 28th decision on whether to grant a charter. After that, the party that “prevails” would have little incentive to negotiate.

Barring a negotiated solution, I believe the Board of Education should deny the application.

Terms used in our charter school articles

Progressive education Not the political label, but a hundred-year-old education movement and practice. Among its tenets are emphasis on problem solving and critical thinking, learning through direct experience, doing so cooperatively, anticipating future skill requirements, and assessment based on what a child produces rather than on test scores.

Choice Program A K-6 school within our school district. Its design and management are guided by progressive education principles. Previously it was one of two tracks within the Healey School. Children from across the district predominated in the Choice track enrollment, while neighborhood children predominated in the mainstream track enrollment. This year, the tracks were combined.

Commonwealth charter school A school that is completely independent of the District in which it is located and receives a five-year charter from the state to operate. Its mission, structure, curriculum, teaching method, and other plans are approved by the state, which provides most of its funding.

English language learner A student whose first language is not English. ELLs comprise 18% of Somerville’s public school students, speak as many as 50 different languages, and come from diverse backgrounds and circumstances.

Horace Mann school A school that has some measure of independence from the administration of the school district in which it is located, but remains part of that district. It is exempted from many state and city regulations regarding hours, curriculum, and teaching methods. Its teachers are licensed and are union members. They often teach as a team.

Innovation school A school that has independence and exemptions similar to a Horace Mann school, but is explicitly intended to be a laboratory for innovations that can be adopted by other schools. Horace Mann and Innovation schools are thought to require greater accountability on the part of principals and teachers.