Published the week of 9/25/05

While district public school enrollments are declining, thousands of rural Minnesota students are flocking to new charter public schools that people like Dave Hagman, Chris Hazelton, Shannon Peterson and Dee Thomas are helping create. The number of Minnesota students attending charter public schools has increased more than 80% in the last five years. A record 23 new Minnesota charters opened this fall. While some district educators resist and oppose Minnesota's charter public school movement, families are voting with their feet.

Hagman, who has started a charter in the Grand Rapids area, says he's doing it "to help meet needs of students who are not succeeding in traditional schools." Hazelton wanted an option that would use a hands-on, active learning approach, located in downtown Duluth. Peterson's elementary school recognizes the value and importance of allowing students to learn a language while still in elementary school. Thomas helped start Henderson's Minnesota New Country School, a small, individualized project based school for grades 7-12. MNCS is so successful that the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has given them millions to help create more schools using their model.

80% of Minnesotans answered "yes" earlier this year, when asked in a Center for School Change poll if they thought families should have a right to choose among various public schools. Like other public schools, charters are free, non-sectarian, and open to all.

But you don't need a poll to see what's going on in Minnesota. Every year since 1991, when the nation's first charter public school was established, the number of families attending these schools has grown. Moreover, the number of students attending Area Learning Centers or some other form of alternative school has grown from 4,500 in 1987, to more than 125,000 in 2003-2004! Clearly, families are looking for options - often the kind of smaller, more individualized program that many Minnesota charter public schools offer.

A disclaimer: the Center for School Change, where I work, helps people create new public school options, including, but not limited to charter public schools. On the home page of our web site - www.centerforschoolchange.org, we offer profiles of virtually all Minnesota charter public schools.

Some Minnesota educators resist charters, claiming they take "our money." These folks do not understand what has happened in Minnesota over the last twenty years. With strong bipartisan support - starting with Hibbing's own Governor Rudy Perpich, the state decided to allocate money for education of students, not just for the preservation of the existing system. Post-Secondary options, second chance choice laws, open enrollment and charter public schools all express this basic principle.

Some district educators embrace and encourage the charter movement. A former Duluth superintendent issued a nation wide request for proposals to create charters in Duluth. Three of Duluth's most successful schools are charters. The current Duluth superintendent, while in Faribault, supported and encouraged creation of a charter in nearby Nerstrand.

People like Hagman, Hazelton and Peterson are creating strong public school options. That's good for families, students and the whole state.