Network Schools – Wayne Gerseny to https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2022/04/03/magazine/thomas-piketty-interview u w B l.html?h I’ll smid=url-share the Is for

Sarah Karp’s WBEZ story on Noble Charter Schools reports that the for profit charter chain sent a letter to formerly enrolled students acknowledging that the schools discipline and promotion policies were racist and pledging to change them going forward. Ms Karp writes:

…The apology is notable not just as an acknowledgment of misguided policies, but as a repudiation of the “no-excuses” philosophy adopted by many charter schools during the 2000s.

For years, Noble Charter Network had an ultra-strict approach in which students, for example, got demerits for small offenses, such as not wearing a belt, not following a teacher with their eyes and failing to sit up straight or wear black dress shoes. After a certain number of demerits, students had to pay for behavior classes. If they continued to get demerits, they could be forced to repeat a grade, which led many to transfer out.

The email calls the discipline and promotion policies “assimilationist, patriarchal, white supremacist and anti-black,” according to the email sent to alumni on Monday. “We were disguising punishment as accountability and high expectations. We did not fulfill our mission to ALL students,” the email continues.

The article recounts the heartache this “no excuses” policy created for countless students and the millions spent by “investors” and supporters of the school which promised to lift children out of poverty by compelling them to follow strict and unyielding discipline. Astonishingly, 10% of the Chicago students were subjected to this treatment.

Needless to say, alumni of the school reacted strongly to this apology…. for good reason!

The letter set off a firestorm among former students, some of whom feel vindicated and others who say they think it was disingenuous. Some alumni point out the email did not explain what changes have been made, offer any type of reparations or ask for their feedback. Instead, the email includes a survey about whether they would want to participate in alumni events.

It DOES take a degree of unmitigated gall to offer and apology and simultaneously seek funding for a failed school… especially when there is no offer of reparations or refunds.