And Here is My First Letter to the Governor of My State

They say the pen is mightier than the sword. Good thing I love writing. I am flaming mad today after getting an email from our school's representative.

Short summary here, the virtual school JM "attends" now that I call homeschool, is on the verge of being squelched by none other than the Department of Education (DE) in my state. Basically, Connections Academy in my state was approved to be a school in 2005, the DE stepped back and thought twice about what was just approved. They decided that to start a virtual charter school in our state that 50% of enrollment must be from the district the school is in. Well, that would summarily disband our school.

CA fought hard to be "grandfathered" out of that ruling. It was understood in 2005 by CA, legislators present, and everyone in attendance, that ruling was with perpetuity. Nope. CA was required this last fall, out of the blue, to reapply for that grandfather clause, and it seems that the DE really wants to disband CA. And one can only wonder why? How dare this virtual school show that schooling can be done cheaply, effectively, without the traditional classroom that requires tons of wasted money.

Anyway, several of us CA parents have banded together in the last few days on a yahoo group and shared the letters we are sending to our legislators. Here is what I am sending tomorrow to the governor of our fine state:


Dear Governor:
I am the mother of two young kids, living in XXXX. We are in the middle of our first school year as a Connections Academy (ORCA) family. Let me give you a bulleted break down of why we chose Connections Academy for our family, and why the impending Legislative session to decide whether the “grandfathered” clause ORCA has applied for is imperative to families like ours.

We took a full year to come to the decision to utilize ORCA for our oldest son who is now a second grader. These reasons are as follows:

• The local public school our children would be required to attend is substandard. The elementary school and the high school are on the state’s “red list”. The junior high was recently closed, so we are unsure where he would have to attend.

• I graduated from college. My husband is finishing his Ph.D. Education is excruciatingly important to us. Education affords a person a future that has opportunities. We didn’t like what our local schools were offering our family, with no solution in sight.

• My husband and I recognize we have one chance to educate our children. We do not have time for our local schools to figure out how to raise standardized test scores, fund their schools, lower class sizes, etc. Our kids need a quality education now.

• We considered traditional homeschooling and found the task incredibly daunting and expensive.

• After discovering and researching Connections Academy, we were ecstatic, and even under the impression that since this was a “public school” the state stood behind this creative endeavor. Our naivete was quickly lost.

Having read the history of Connections Academy and their contentious relationship with the DE, I am sorely disappointed. The DE has done nothing but strong-arm and bully ORCA. It seems we are returning to the alley behind school for yet another fight over what?

From a parental standpoint, I cannot see why the DE has been so contentious? Here are my thoughts on that:

• The DE has a unique opportunity to recognize that virtual schools are the education of the future. With the onset of the Internet, online college degree programs, global economy, etc., I can only surmise that virtual schooling will almost become a standard for education. Why in the world would DE want to stop that? Why wouldn’t the DE want to partner with ORCA? ORCA has shown in the past five years nothing but success. Success both nationally and statewide. Yes, I know the DE has started it’s own virtual school. I haven’t seen the successful scores, numbers, or lack of contentiousness from that program that I have from ORCA. So no, I won’t be enrolling my kids in a program that was created as a knee-jerk reaction to ORCA.

• The ODE has the opportunity to be on the cutting edge of the future of education. But instead, from where I am sitting, they are stuck in their mindset that ORCA is some kind of threat to them and must be disbanded. Does that seem extreme? Well, no one seems to question ORCA’s grandfathered charter other than DE. No one has fought that charter harder than DE.

• Why would the DE want to be so critical? Honestly, from my parental point of view, it looks like the DE is threatened by ORCA’s success. If ORCA continues to succeed and actually educate Oregon’s children with little or no tax payer money, what happens to traditional schools, enrollment and, yes, precious taxpayer funding. Yes, I believe this all boils down to money, and yes, I think the DE is threatened by ORCA’s success. ORCA’s success would show that kids can be educated well and that all the funding that we have thrown at the ODE is a waste.
  

So, my big-picture question to you? What side do you support? Keep in mind, there doesn’t need to be sides here. ORCA has time and time again asked for dialogue, meetings, input and help from the DE with little or no response. The DE has drawn the battle lines. Mr. Governor, you must choose.

Will you support a side that has established a cutting edge, technology based, future pointed education model? Will you support Oregon’s kids having an alternative to education that will bring excellence to their future? Oregon’s future? Will you support a program that has shown itself to be open to the legislative process, understood fair play in the politics of this endeavor, and open to scrutiny? Will you side with the “underdog” on this issue?

Or will you show support for the education system in this state that is positively falling apart? If you can’t see it, I can. Mark my words, it needs triage and a Band-Aid won’t fix it. Will you support a stodgy ODE that is rooted in tradition, lacks future thinking for education, and seems more interested in funding and being a political entity. It seems more interested in staying in cahoots with teacher’s unions and lobbyists. The DE is the bully in this situation and their behavior towards ORCA substantiates that. No one need dispute it.

Personally, the title of the DE seems to me they should be more interested in educating my kid right now and they aren’t. They seem more interested in silencing success. I don’t have a good, public education available to my family by the DE. I do with ORCA.

I promise you this, as long as XYZ Schools continues in it’s downward spiral, my children will never step foot in their classrooms. As long as the DE continues to be a heavy-handed prizefighter, with lack of vision, my children will never step foot in a XYZ classroom.

Cordially,
AMG