Our K-12 public school system continues to wallow in mediocrity at a time when many nations are continuing to create a vastly more educated workforce, especially in mathematics and science. As a citizen of this great nation, I am more than a little scared about what this eventually means for us as we desperately attempt to recover as an economic superpower in this information-based economy.
In 2003, US 15-year-olds ranked 24th out of 29 developed countries in mathematics, according to the Organization For Economic Cooperation And Development. More than 90 percent of students in grades 5-9 are taught physical science by a teacher lacking a major or certification in the area, as sourced in a report titled “Rising Above the Storm” (2005) by the National Academy of Sciences. These two statistics add to my overall concern about our economic recovery.
Math, science and technology must be at the forefront of a quality American school education for every student. And a well-rounded education in art, music, foreign language, analytical, speaking and writing skills should form the backbone of every high school graduate’s portfolio in Santa Clara County. However, with the state’s slashing of education funding, we bring any progress we have made on this front to a screeching halt, sadly.
Will we ever get it? The economic vitality of our region is inextricably connected to the quality of education for all children, not just those children from privileged neighborhoods and homes. An organization of community members is taking up the torch to address the degradation of public schools, especially in the areas of math, science, and technology. Do they have the answer?
The Santa Clara County Board of Education received a new countywide charter school petition in December, 2008, and participated in a public hearing on Jan. 14. This Wednesday, March 4, the Magnolia Science Academy- Santa Clara Charter School petition is on the agenda for action by our seven-member County Board of Education.
The Magnolia Educational & Research Foundation, a non-profit 501(c)(3), organization, has opened six Magnolia Science Academy Schools in Southern California. Now their goal is to open one in the heart of Silicon Valley and two more in the Milpitas Unified and East Side Union High School districts in the next two years. The Magnolia Science Academy- Santa Clara Charter petition reads, “MSA-Santa Clara is a joint effort of a successful charter school operator; a highly qualified local founding group which includes over 40 research scientists and technology specialists mostly PhDs working at well-known High-Tech companies in the Silicon Valley; and faculty members of Stanford University, University of California-Berkeley and other area universities.”
Is this countywide charter a good idea? I have yet to decide how I will vote on Wednesday, pending our discussion and answers to our questions raised on Jan. 14. Here are some of my questions and concerns: How will these MSA Charter affect the difficulty in attracting highly qualified math and science teachers to Santa Clara Unified, Milpitas, and East Side Union High School districts? Will the education of the 6th-12th grade students be well rounded enough? Will the racial make-up of the student body mirror the districts where the schools are located? Will there be gender balance to the student body? Will the number of students with special needs with active Individual Education Plans be admitted in equal numbers (around 10 percent of total population) to those attending district schools?
Charter schools as alternative public schools can be beneficial for our educational community, especially if the regular public schools learn from their experimentation. However, it is imperative for charter schools, in my view, to be fully inclusive of all students, and not more exclusive, as most statistics demonstrate.
In the six charter schools authorized by the Santa Clara County School Board serving 1,786 students the special education population is 5.5 percent. Therefore, by creating charter schools we inadvertently add to the overall percentage of students with special needs who stay in their neighborhood public school.
Please give me your thoughts on this proposed new countywide Charter called Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Clara.
Looking at Magnolia’s web site [1], they may be strong in science but their skills in English are seriously lacking. From an interview posted on the school’s website:
“3 reasons why parents should choose MSA:
I guess we’re addressing the needs of future in this school. This is No1 reason.
The 2nd reason: Kids are not gonna get lost in the burocracy of public education system by coming here.
And the 3rd reason: If parents want to be involved every steps of their child’s education, this is the school they should come.”
Not very impressive for a school that claims 40 PhDs are involved.
[1] http://www.magnoliascience.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=79&Itemid=129
I’m rather vague about the details, perhaps someone here remembers more. A few years ago in New York city, a Catholic high school asked some public high schools to send the worst students that they had to them. After a period of time the students had made very remarkable advances in their grades and behavior. I hope someone can remember more details about this and post it.
This column shows exactly what is wrong with our public education system and those who control it.
Not only does it defy all experience that the amount of funding has anything to do with the success of education. The notions of…
Will the education be well rounded enough?
Will the racial makeup mirror the district?
Will there be gender and special needs balance?
…is the reason for the utter failure of public schools. Spend all you want, pay teachers and administrators millions.
But putting priority on such worthless notions is the exact reason for the state of our system.
As is painfully obvious from this column, the goal for many of those in our public education system is not to educate, but rather some obscure social agenda.
Until that goal (and those who support and/or allow it) is eliminated, schools will fail.
Joe Average,
What can one expect? Legions of educators have studied nothing but the soft sciences – not really sciences at all – and can only think in the touchy-feely arena.
The nuts and bolts of education are largely overlooked in favor of all manner of diversity statistics including racial makeup, gender balance and special needs.
Developing, sustaining and measuring a complex linear program with such objectives must be hugely expensive. And if there’s any funding left over, perhaps some education can take place.
It’s interesting that you deride charter schools for being “exclusive”. There are quite a few exclusive public schools: look in Palo Alto and Cupertino.
Apparently being “exclusive” is fine if you restrict by class. But it’s impermissible if you restrict by actions or ability. Money before merit, I guess.
Joseph DiSalvo writes:
“Math, science and technology must be at the forefront of a quality American school education for every student.”
Were I inclined to toke up, there isn’t enough marijuana in this valley to impair my judgment enough to accept so absurd a declaration. The only way that math, science, and technology can be made accessible to every student is if the math is kept to beginning arithmetic, the science to a cautionary lecture on electrical outlets, and the technology to the operation of vacuum cleaners and floor polishers. Clearly, the first step in repairing our educational system is the removal of teachers and administrators who, either through ignorance or misguided faith, continue to reject important, irrefutable truths about the abilities of students.
This I can say without hesitation: The damage inflicted by the teaching of Creationism would pale in comparison to the damage being done today in the name of egalitarianism. Far fewer students would suffer from the teaching of a giant fairy tale than do presently suffer in a system that refuses to acknowledge their individual talents and limitations. Intellectually gifted students can find their way to Darwin without help, but young people with trade school aptitudes cannot avoid being confronted with failure when pushed into an academic direction they cannot possibly negotiate.
To 3 & 4:
What are the alternatives to your criticism? For example, No. 3 suggests eliminating an obscure social agenda. No. 4 states how the nuts and bolts of education are overlooked. What exactly are the nuts and bolts of education? You both fail to provide a substantial alternative, in my opinion. Or, perhaps I fail to understand your criticism. Please elaborate.
Also, what makes some sciences hard and others soft?
Last night the County Board of Education approved the Magnolia Science Academy-Santa Clara on a 5-2 vote. The Board voted to approve one school in the 2009-10 school year. The 2nd and 3rd MSA Charter in East Side Union High School and Milpitas Unified would be approved for 2011, if MSA-Santa Clara meets identified staff benchmarks.
I was one of the dissenters in the vote. I am very concerned the Charter Petitioners did not go through the school districts e.g. Santa Clara Unified in order for them to respond to the concerns raised by the petitioners. Santa Clara Unified should have been provided an opportunity to become the chartering agency rather than the County Office of Education, if their Board deemed it appropriate and beneficial to their community.
As a newly elected Board member (first time serving as an elected official) I am very impressed by the thoughtful, reflective, and wise questions my fellow board colleagues asked during the lengthy deliberative process. I thank them for teaching me what it is to be an effective member of a school board. Although disappointed by the result of the vote I felt heard and respected for my position.
At the conclusion of the 2 hour debate I congratulated the petitioner on their success. I also expressed my concern that without active and vocal parents within the regular public school system advocating for their children’s educational interests we might be perpetuating a less than rigorous and robust education for all Silicon Valley children as we approve a “safety” valve for the few enrolled in Charter schools.
The petitioner posited that we are increasing competition so all children will eventually benefit. In the first decade of the Charter school movement there is no evidence that indicates that the competition is working, rather Charter schools continue to be more exclusive while the sister public schools take every child that passes through their door.
This is the first multiple school countywide charter petition in Santa Clara County. We are the first County Office of Education to approve a Magnolia Science Academy Charter. The other MSAs have been approved by Los Angeles Unified and San Diego Unified. The State Board of Education is in the process to approve 10 Magnolia Science Academy schools that can be located anywhere in the state, including Santa Clara County.
How many other private (501) (c) (3) organizations are out there to come to request a multiple school countywide charter from a County Office of Education Board known as sympathetic to Charter Schools? How will districts handle the loss of revenue from losing enrollment (ADA), especially in light of the massive budget cuts districts sustained this year?
Joseph Di Salvo
Last paragraph of your message indicates that you are more concerned about the lost revenue of the district than the school.
The Magnolia Charters of Calfirnia and Bay Area Technology are part of the Fetullah Gulen movement. They operate over 100 US charter schools in the USA. The principals are always Turkish men and most of the uncredentialed teachers are brought from turkey under HB-1 visas.
They boast high test scores a pay a lot of money on selling the schools (as it is a business-the schools get reimbursed on the enrollment from the state)
The contests they attend are run by the numerous Gulen foundations or institutions: Turkish Olympiad, Science Olympiad and Math Matters.
They are teaching the children Turkish language, dance and singing and they perform this in the USA and in Turkey while waving the Islamic Flag of Turkey. DO YOUR RESEARCH ON THIS SCHOOL BEFORE YOU ENROLL YOUR CHILD. RESEARCH FETULLAH GULEN
http://www.charterschoolwatchdog.com