Charter schools: Delta’s KIPP shines
Sid Salter • August 15, 2010
CLARKSDALE — Riding around the city where he makes a living as an attorney, businessman and entrepreneur, Bill Luckett mentions the college term paper he wrote about Mississippi’s low educational ranking back in 1968 and laments that the state’s ranking “hasn’t risen much in the 40-year interim.”
In Coahoma County, the Coahoma County School District is rated as “failing” by the state. The Clarksdale Municipal School District is rated as “at risk of failing” along with the Coahoma County Agricultural High School.
Luckett, an unabashed booster of his city and county, points the finger as the schools in his community as evidence of the need for innovation and change in public education. That is something he promised to champion when he declared his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor of Mississippi in 2011.
As he talks, there’s a roll of “Luckett for Governor” stickers on the console of his car. The conversation with a reporter is broken by frequent cell phone calls and by frequent waves to friends – black and white – on the streets of Clarksdale.
“My biggest goal for the state is in terms of improving educational opportunities for all Mississippians,” Luckett said. “Unfortunately, Mississippi continues to rank 50th in terms of education or educational performance, and something’s got to change.”
To that end, Luckett and a large group of Coahoma County business and civic leaders took a bus trip across the Mississippi River to Helena, Ark., to tour the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Delta Public Schools. It is one of the nation’s growing number of highly successful public-funded charter schools.
The KIPP Delta Public Schools are performing significantly better. The KIPP School Class of 2010, the school’s first graduating class, saw 100 percent of its students graduate and 100 percent win acceptance to colleges like Vanderbilt University and the U.S. Naval Academy.
The demographics of the KIPP school mirrors those in Coahoma County. Over 95 percent of the KIPP students are African American, over 90 percent qualify for free or reduced school meals under federal guidelines and the majority of students come from single-parent homes.
So is Luckett’s support for charter schools a campaign gimmick?
Democrats, by and large, have been slow to embrace the charter school concept, which would seem more a political obstacle for Luckett than a help.
The charter school concept meets strong opposition among many African-American political leaders who fear an erosion of support for traditional public schools.
However, Clarksdale Mayor Henry Espy and his son, state Rep. Chuck Espy, D-Clarksdale, are like Luckett, convinced that the success of the KIPP School in Arkansas indicates that it’s time Mississippi gave the charter school concept an honest examination.
“We just loaded everybody up on a bus and went to Helena to see for ourselves what everyone was talking about – and I came back a believer that this concept can work,” said Mayor Espy
Chuck Espy said it’s time that children in the Delta – the state’s poorest region – have some of the same educational options available to children in more affluent areas of the state.
“They (more affluent Mississippians) can put their kids any place in the world,” said Rep. Espy. “They have options. What about the single mother in the Delta that’s just making ends meet?”
Republicans in the state have long argued on behalf of charter schools. Earlier this year, the Legislature passed a watered-down version of a charter school bill and Gov. Haley Barbour signed it into law.
The bill allows up to 12 conversion schools statewide during a six-year period. The state’s charter school law stipulates that only parents whose children are in schools ranked as under-performing for three years by the Department of Education could ask for the takeover option. The earliest that could happen is late 2012.
Charter schools are publicly funded, but operate outside some of the rules and regulations for traditional schools like those in Coahoma County.
The differences?
KIPP students and their parents formally commit to longer school hours, discipline, mandatory summer sessions, parental involvement and up to 2 hours of homework nightly.
2010 marks the 10-year anniversary of the partnership between the Fisher family – founders of The Gap – and Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin to replicate KIPP schools nationwide. Since 2000, KIPP has grown from two schools to 82 public schools serving 21,000 students in 19 states and Washington, DC.
KIPP Delta Collegiate High School is one of three schools in the KIPP Delta network. KIPP Delta Collegiate was founded in 2006 and serves an estimated 150 students in grades 9 through 12. Some 95 percent of KIPP Delta Collegiate students are African American and 90 percent qualify for free or reduced price meals. KIPP Delta takes a rigorous, “no excuses” approach to education with a college-preparatory curriculum.
The KIPP organization defines the concepts its leaders employ as follows: “KIPP builds a partnership among parents, students, and teachers that puts learning first. By providing outstanding educators, more time in school learning, and a strong culture of achievement, KIPP is helping all students climb the mountain to and through college.
Susan Womack, executive director of Parents for Public Schools in Jackson, said the organization has a “neutral” position on the charter school concept.
“One thing that concerns me personally is the issue of equity in education,” Womack said. “We know what works in successful charter schools – extended hours, high parental involvement, a high commitment by the students – and the challenge becomes how we do that for all children rather than just for some without taking public dollars away from public education.”
Driving through Clarksdale, Luckett said: “By raising everyone’s expectations, they’ve done a tremendous job at the KIPP school. That really sold me on charter schools. I think it can work in Mississippi, too. There’s a lot of excitement in this community about the prospects.”