KIPP Application Deserved Approval

On Wednesday the Anne Arundel County Board of Education approved one of two proposals to open Charter Schools in the County. The Board approved the Chesapeake Science Point Public Charter School in Glen Burnie, but rejected the Knowledge Is Power Program's Harbor Academy in Annapolis.

This decision is nonsensical. Both proposals were worthy of approval to provide students and parents with additional options above and beyond the current public school system. But the reason behind the rejection of the KIPP proposal may deal with the dirtiest word in county education. The Post reported that:

The deciding factor was concern that the charter school would drain enrollment from the city's two public middle schools. Some parents in the Annapolis feeder system feared that the school, planned for 320 students in grades five through eight, could force drastic redistricting or a school closure to compensate for falling enrollment at neighboring schools.

"That weighed on my decision, because I am very responsive to public input," said board member Tricia Johnson, who voted against the school. "Don't get me wrong, the KIPP program really seems to be marvelous."

Redistricting is the third raild of education politics in Anne Arundel County. It is a topic that comes up during every School Board Nominating Convention. Nobody wants to redistrict schools because of the potential outrage from parents and the political complications of doing so. The reason most dedistricting has taken place, at least recently, has to do with shifting students between feeder systems so as to maximize the number of available seats in the county without actually building the 13th High School. This is why some students from the Crofton area attend South River High.

If the program were truly marvelous, as Ms. Johnson told the Post, the program deserved to be approved regardless of the effect on enrollment at Annapolis area middle schools. The purpose of opening Charter Schools is to provide opportunity and not the status quo. The Status Quo, at least in Annapolis, has been preserved with the rejection of the KIPP proposal. Especially, as the Sun reports, the KIPP program has worked in Baltimore:

Nearly 91 percent of sixth-graders of KIPP Ujima Village Academy in Baltimore reached state targets on the math exam. So did about 89 percent of fifth-graders - the highest scores in the city.

And that is what matters. The KIPP program is appealing the decision of the county board to the State Board of Education. It will be interesting to see what happens.