Metro

My son’s learning. Why won’t pols let all kids?

I decided to send my 11-year-old son, Isere Williams, to Sisulu-Walker Charter School with just one thought in mind: his future.

I see too many kids in Harlem dropping out of school, not going to college. It always seems like the system is set up to fail them.

I realize how lucky I was my son got in, with so many children shooting for so few slots. Countless parents have the same basic hope as me, but their kids are stuck in the same failing schools, with nowhere to go but down.

It’s just luck, but really, there is nothing fair about it. A good education is not supposed to be a privilege.

My son got in, and he’s one of the lucky ones. From Day One, the message from the principal and teachers at Sisulu has been about accountability. They know what it’s like at most of the schools in my neighborhood. They understand what it’s like for a parent to feel like no one really has the best interests of your child in mind. They know what’s it’s like to watch your child walk out the door and realize he has so much potential but won’t get a chance to show it.

The teachers are accountable to me, but most important, they’re accountable to my son. They’ve made it clear that their success depends on his success. If he doesn’t learn and grow and eventually get into college, they won’t fulfill the promise they made him and me.

It seems like such a simple idea, but I can say it’s rare to find in a school in my neighborhood.

What I like most is the way my son’s principal and teachers explain their ideas and process to me every step of the way. There’s no mystery about what their goals are, what my son is learning, why he comes home and talks about the things he does.

I feel part of his education and part of the school community because of that. I really feel closer to him because of that.

Isere’s teachers demand a lot. The schoolwork is tough and it requires focus and discipline. That means a child can’t just slip through the cracks and pass from grade to grade without really learning anything. I’ve heard from plenty of other parents that the teachers won’t give up on a child. They do what it takes. I’m truly grateful for that.

To see my son come home from his after-school chess club excited about all the things he did that day is the most wonderful thing I can imagine. He talks about the books he’s reading, the things he’s studying, his teachers and his friends. If I had one wish for Harlem, it would be that every parent would get to experience that same feeling of pride that I do.

What motivates the enemies of charter schools? Do they want every child locked in the system of failure? What about the success of kids from the inner city is offensive or a problem?

They act like they know what’s best for all children. They criticize, but give no other options to parents struggling. I am positive that anyone who has a child at a school like Sisulu would understand that we need more of them. They are bringing hope to our neighborhoods.

I ask the politicians and school leaders who fight public charter schools to spend a few days in one. There can’t be a better way to see the positive things they do for children.

When New Yorkers look back to 2010 a long time from now, they are going to see how the seeds of change were planted. They are going to see how some tried to snip the buds. But they will see how the open-minded changed their views and embraced a new way.

If there is one thing I’ve learned from Sisulu, it’s that a better future for any child does not just have to be a dream. I never stopped fighting for my son and his future, and I never will. I am grateful to his school and teachers for giving him a chance to make it, because without them, he wouldn’t have that opportunity. I just hope the decision-makers will make it possible for every child to get that chance soon.

Savarra Johnson is the parent of a fifth-grader at Sisulu-Walker Charter School of Harlem, the first public charter school to open in New York.