When Cesar Chavez Academy opened its
doors seven years ago, enrollment was 240. Today the number stands at 1,100.
Other things
have changed as well. These students - most of whom are Latino kids from
low-income neighborhoods - are now some of the highest achievers in the entire
state.
Lawrence
Hernandez, founder of the school, says 3,000 students are on the waiting list
to attend.
That there's a
single kid on that waiting list is a travesty.
The U.S.
Department of Education will honor Cesar Chavez Academy for its success in
closing the achievement gap among Latino students.
The school was
one of six charter schools nationwide to be recognized. It was one of only two
picked to be featured in a documentary about successful schools to air
nationwide Sept. 18 on PBS.
In Colorado,
Cesar Chavez already has a sterling reputation. High marks come from nearly
every corner of the educational establishment. Incredibly, this success comes,
according to Hernandez, by operating with 40 percent less money per student
(after paying for their own building and other expenses) than the typical
public school does.
With all this
success, one wonders why Cesar Chavez Academy, and similar schools, are
constantly struggling to overcome barriers laid in their way by local and
state governments.
We can begin
with the Colorado legislature. Both the House and Senate education committees
have been run by staunch union ideologues, Sen. Sue Windels and Rep. Mike
Merrifield. The latter was caught this year asserting, "There must be a
special place in hell" for certain "charterizers." They were scheming to make
it harder for Coloradans to follow Hernandez's lead.
Perhaps,
instead of assaulting successful ideas, these naysayers should be asking
Hernandez: How do you do it?
"We have a
simple formula," he explains. "A powerful learning program that involves
remedial and structural-based studies. Most importantly, we have a highly
committed staff working incredibly long hours. I've worked in public schools
across the country, and I've never seen a staff work harder. They all have a
can-do philosophy. High expectations followed by action. We believe that
Latino kids, like any other children, should have that same quality education
that private schools can give."
In Pueblo, the
local education establishment hasn't asked Hernandez for help, either.
Instead, it has worked to limit his progress, going as far as suing Colorado
to stop any more of his expansion. (Cesar Chavez does have a new campus in
Colorado Springs.)
"What they end
up doing is spending all of their energy trying to crush us," explains
Hernandez. "I really think that's a shame. They should be trying to replicate
what we're doing. Fortunately, I think, especially in communities like ours,
the community is becoming far more knowledgeable and savvy. The average parent
will no longer tolerate their kids' getting a sub-par education."
It's going to
be hard to have a conversation about Colorado education without bringing up
Cesar Chavez from now on. Yet, as we all know, fighting legislators like
Merrifield and Windels, who are backed by big union dollars and stubbornly
cling to failed ideas, will be no easy trick.
"They just
don't get it, and they just never will," Hernandez says. "What they are not
listening to is the voice of the average parent. The everyday parent doesn't
care what the political motives are or for one strategy above another. They
have one issue that's important to them - their children."
Hernandez says
that what most school officials fail to understand is that the average parents
care about "reform"; they couldn't care less whether their kids are in a
"public" school or "charter" or "private" schools. They care about quality,
not politics.
"It's all
about customer service 101," Hernandez says. "That's why we are successful and
families have what they want and need."
Gov. Bill
Ritter gave us a lot of talk about supporting charter schools during his
campaign. It's about time he did something meaningful and helped create more
schools like Cesar Chavez Academy.
David Harsanyi's column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at
303-954-1255 or
dharsanyi@denverpost.com.
