Archive: Opinions

With all the New Roots bashing I have heard over the years I have kept my peace, in part because I did not want to use my status as editor of this publication to elevate my opinion over that of others.  So I am writing this as a letter, not an editorial, and I hope you will view it as just one opinion, of equal, but not greater weight, to others that have been expressed since New Roots was chartered.  Just one dad's opinion.

My child was in New Roots’ first graduating class.  To be honest, I thought she would never graduate high school when she attended our local public school.  She is bright and was not a behavior or social problem kid, but her way of thinking and the school's way of teaching were oil and water.  I often found her on the floor of her room, despondent about her school assignments and her inability to succeed at this school.  And she was not able to get help from her teachers that connected to her in a way that she could come out of this mire of hopelessness.  Her inability to succeed there was not her fault.  But I don't believe it was her teachers' fault either.  It was a really bad fit.


New Roots came at the right time for her.  She decided to switch, somewhat to my surprise because kids that age worry about not seeing their friends every day, and she had a solid group of peeps.  This school didn't even exist yet.  The promises sounded good, but in my mind the jury was still out.  My wife and I reasoned she could always return to our district school if things didn't work out, so we supported her decision.  She knew she was drowning academically, and hoped this new school would connect with her productively.

It may be the best decision she will ever make.  I knew something was different when she came downstairs dressed and ready one day and insisting on going to school, even though she had a miserable case of the flu.  We didn't let her.  We didn't want her to infect everyone else.  But it was a battle for us that morning!  What a contrast in attitude!  And in performance, too.

I am not claiming she went from an academically miserable student to a 4.0 superstar.  But she did quite well, and I observed a maturity in her that was not there before.  It wasn't a matter of one school being good and another bad.  It was a matter of New Roots being a much better fit for this individual.  We could not afford a private school, so the timing of the founding of the charter school was a gift from on high in my daughter’s case.  She did well.  She kept her old friends and made new ones.  She graduated with her class, the first to do so at New Roots.  She applied to six colleges and was accepted to all six.  She is currently a Junior  at a college she loves, with a double major, doing very well and is quite happy.

I am not saying New Roots is perfect, but I believe it provides a much needed alternative for families whose kids are the proverbial square pegs being stuffed into public school round holes.  If the alternative school in the Ithaca District were a good fit for the New Roots kids they would go there instead.  Maybe there shouldn't be tons of alternatives -- I can see how that would dilute the resource pool.  But kids from the rural districts don't have the Ithaca alternative, and they are no less valuable as people than Ithaca kids.

I am as alarmed as everyone else, including the New Roots Staff, at the recent report that only 51% of the the 2010 cohort graduated in four years, but I believe that there are some kids who are not going to graduate no matter what school they go to.  I think, perhaps, more of those end up at New Roots because it is viewed as a haven for kids who are not doing well elsewhere.

That is not an excuse.  Every school should strive to serve every child that attends it.  From my experience my observation is that the charter school staff and administration deeply cares for and respects their students.  I have attended more than one graduation ceremony here in Lansing for kids who didn't finish with their class, but kept working hard until they could graduate.  So I know that this is not a problem that is unique to New Roots, although it looks, at the moment, as if the school has a lot of work to do because 51% is not acceptable.

Our Lansing school superintendent went to New Roots a few years ago to see for herself what they were doing that her schools are not.  She said she hopes that her district can serve all kids eventually, but in my opinion small rural districts can't realistically do that.  This is why I think the charter school is valuable, for all its warts, and I think my child is an example of why it is absolutely necessary.  If New Roots' charter were to be pulled 51% of its students would be back in an untenable academic situation.  While we should be very concerned about the 49% in that report, we should't throw the 51% out with the proverbial bath water.  So yes, there is a lot of work to do, but I believe the foundation is there in a talented group of educatiors who have the will and capacity to do better. 

I pay school taxes like everyone else, but my child was not being well served here in my town.  I do not blame the school district for this -- I still believe it is an outstanding district.  But you can't serve all of the people all of the time.  It wasn't a good fit for my child, and New Roots provided a chance for her that changed her life from a future of 'do you want fries with that?' to a promise of a productive and happy life.  All parents want that for their kids, and New Roots gave it to mine.

Dan Veaner
Lansing, NY

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