Re: “‘I Don’t Think We Need Ms. Rodov’s Kind of Spirit’”
Dear Mr. Mielke:
I am not attempting to alienate the education community in Culver City. However, in the public discourse about ISPY, our proposed charter school, the Innovatory School for Professional Youth, everyone is talking about money. Nobody is talking about quality.
I didn’t say your schools are failures. I simply said that they warrant improvement. Even the title of my article “Exceptional vs. Aight” speaks to this thesis. “Aight” means “all right” but not spectacular. This is not an insult of any kind. I always ask myself, How I can be better? How I can improve my teaching and my writing? It's humbling to always pursue betterment in a desire to become stellar.
That said, I led my article with cold, hard facts. I ascertained that there should be clear, measurable outcomes for success. I cited graduation rates and colleges acceptances: Big Picture Schools' graduation rate of 92 percent, opposed to CCUSD's 78 percent. I also gave a specific list of top schools that my at-risk socio-economically disadvantaged students were accepted to in my mere four years of teaching. Your rebuttal, however, gave no clear measurable outcomes of success; rather, you appealed to emotions by using words like “spirit“ and phrases like “family of schools.” While you did cite your “30 years of experience” and your staff’s “100 years of combined experience,” you gave no proof of success. Show us college acceptances, rigorous projects or successes in the professional world.
Tremendous Support
Furthermore, I would like to clarify our attitude towards the Culver City community. My partner Jessica Jacobs and I have done an incredible amount of outreach. We have gathered tremendous support from the business and homeschooling communities. We h even have included detailed letters of support in our 300-page petition. It is clear that we respect and admire the people of Culver City. We were in the process of gathering support from your teachers when they suddenly backtracked in mortal fear and explained that they cannot talk to us. Additionally, we received a cease-and-desist letter from (former Supt.) Patti Jaffe, asking us to refrain from talking to teachers. We were impressed by her when we met with her. So it was shocking to receive this letter. If we have not gathered as much support from your teachers as we would have liked, these are the reasons.
I chose to write a candid article because I believe that in our politically correct society, and in a city known for its double-speak, many people still appreciate someone who speaks plainly and truthfully. Furthermore, at the heart of what I was saying was the simple message that we must raise the bar on what we define as quality. There is nothing original in what I am saying; there are people more notable than myself saying the same thing: President Obama, Bill Gates, Arne Duncan, Michelle Rhee and more.
You take issue with my point of view on your independent study program and your continuation school. Please know that this stance was gathered directly from speaking to current parents and current employees at those institutions. While you take exception to my criticism of “book work” and cite only one activity that your students were engaged in, you still do not provide clear, measurable outcomes of success. Again, I want to see college acceptances, rigorous world-changing projects and success in the real world.
Congratulations on the ribbons and awards your schools have won. I am not discounting them. I am simply saying that CCUSD parents are sophisticated enough to know that beyond grade school and middle school, college looms. If you really believe that CCUSD's acceptances cannot be better, I do take issue with that.
Finally, I am familiar with the Stanford charter school study you mentioned. But it is a tactic you used to scare District constituents away from us. I agree that some charter schools fail. However, we are not a failing school. ISPY is a Big Picture Learning school – Big Picture has 50 high-performing schools all over the U.S. Bill Gates has given millions to Big Picture, and he has spoken in its favor many times.
Again, it’s about high standards, and clear, measurable outcomes for success.
Ms. Rodov may be contacted at ispycharter@gmail.com
