February 9, 2015

New Haven Board of Education
54 Meadow Street
New Haven, CT 06519

To Members of the New Haven Board of Education, Mayor Harp, and Superintendent Harries:

We, the undersigned community members, express our opposition to the expansion of Achievement First charter schools in New Haven. We have serious concerns about the negative impacts of the privatization of public schools. We view the “Elm City Imagine” New Haven Public Schools-Achievement First partnership as part of a larger national shift, siphoning resources away from public schools and into privately-managed charter organizations. We oppose this new partnership for the following reasons:        

1. Adequately Funding Public Schools Instead of Corporate Charters - We believe all New Haven children have the right to a high-quality education. Achievement First routinely finds ways to remove students from their schools, sending them back to public schools, disrupting their educational experiences. By investing in all public schools and maintaining public oversight, we can ensure more New Haven students have access to consistent and high-quality education. In addition, as the NAACP points out, “charter schools draw funding away from already underfunded [...] public schools.”        

2. Transparent Decision Making Process - We believe that process matters when it comes to the decisions made about our city’s public schools. Public discussion and an adequate, transparent timeline are necessary for matters impacting the form and funding of our schools. Board of Education members Mayor Toni Harp, Alex Johnston, and Che Dawson, with ties to Achievement First and school reform organizations, should recuse themselves from the vote as this presents a significant conflict of interest.  

3. We believe that the influence of the Broad Foundation undermines the long-term stability of public schools; “a hallmark of the Broad-style leadership is closing existing schools rather than attempting to improve them, increasing class size, opening charter schools, imposing high-stakes test-based accountability systems on teachers and students, and implementing of pay for performance schemes.” The NHPS Superintendent, Chief Financial Officer, one Board of Education member, and the CEO of Achievement First have participated in Broad Foundation sponsored programs as Fellows and Residents. The Eli Broad Foundation currently pays the Chief Financial Officer and his assistant for their work on the New Haven Public Schools budget. This should concern parents, teachers, and community members.  New Haven’s Board of Education can shift this course by valuing the democratic process, looking to child development research, and crafting a new narrative for improving our city’s schools.  

4. Punitive Discipline Policies Harm Students - We believe that Achievement First’s “no excuses” philosophy can damage young people’s social and emotional development. Zero tolerance and punitive discipline policies remove students from the classroom, arts and music classes, and the school community. These policies send the message that some students are not meant for school at all. Positive youth development can be emphasized by implementing the six critical developmental pathways.  According to Dr. James Comer, not enough attention is paid to child and adolescent development.  By creating welcoming school cultures that meet the needs of all students, young people form positive connections and thrive both in and out of school.

5. Public School Educators Use Innovative Practices - We believe that the innovation being celebrated as central to “Elm City Imagine” is not new at all. Educators have been working hard to implement similar practices in many of our public schools. However, large class sizes, the ongoing threat of budget cuts at the building level, and the belief that standardized test scores are the sole measure of school success, hamper the creativity and individualized attention that most benefit young people. Instead of investing funds into corporate charters, we believe NHPS should invest more money into its existing public schools so that we might bring to fruition the many innovations public school educators have been developing.

6. We believe that some charter schools, like Achievement First, further segregate our schools increasing racial isolation, which is in direct opposition to Connecticut State legislation: In order to reduce racial, ethnic and economic isolation, each school district shall provide educational opportunities for its students to interact with students and teachers from other racial, ethnic, and economic backgrounds and may provide such opportunities with students from other communities. In New Haven, over 98% of Achievement First students are identified as minorities while New Haven Public Schools offer a more integrated experience. Further, the NAACP passed a resolution in 2010 in support of public schools over charter schools, citing racial isolation as one of many undesirable impacts of charter proliferation.

7. We believe that teacher experience matters; not only when it comes to supporting the learning of a diverse group of students but also for sustaining school communities. The strongest and best schools are institutions with positive human relationships that thread through generations.  While every teacher must start their career somewhere, Achievement First has a much higher teacher turnover rate. The Elm City “Imagine” will have a low student to teacher ratio by hiring a large number of “teachers in residence” who will not be paid a full teacher salary.  This will guarantee higher turnover.

8. We believe that when teachers have good working conditions, students have good learning conditions.  When educators have supplies, books, adequate time for preparation and reflection, education and experience, students are directly and positively impacted. Achievement First plans to fill its school with uncertified, non-unionized teachers, following a national pattern to privatize schools and jeopardize students’ educational experiences.  

9. “There is no evidence that choice and competition can routinely and widely improve our system of public education”  Well-resourced, student-centered schools have no reason to be in competition with each other. The primary role of all schools is to help children develop in an environment of positive relationships. Shaming and stressing staff and students because they do not have high standardized test scores undermines community and wrongly treats schools like businesses. In this “choice” experiment in New Haven, we lack clear information about fiscal and staff decision-making in the district. Schools that are labeled failing are stigmatized and closed. This is the model that has been playing out across the country, from Washington D.C. to New Orleans, to New York, to Chicago, and Los Angeles. The result is an unequal school system of “haves” and “have-nots.” These experiments create profit opportunities for education corporations in districts like New Haven, as districts outsource education services and standardize curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

In summary, the New Haven Board of Education has the opportunity to chart a new course. By lowering class sizes in all New Haven Public Schools, minimizing the time and money spent on high-stakes testing and test preparation, and continuing to listen to the voices of students, parents, and teachers, we will be able to provide students with an education that will prepare them to thrive as thinkers, doers, and compassionate 21st century citizens of the world.  


Email:  newhaveneducatorscollective@gmail.com

Web:  www.facebook.com/newhaveneducatorscollective


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