Today is Mother’s Day, when across the nation we honor the women who gave birth to us, fed us and took us to school.
And if a new survey by the Friedman Foundation for Educational Choice is right, two-thirds of American mothers with school-age children want more options about where they can send their kids to school — including vouchers.
No doubt, New York moms want the same for their kids. Although the state’s teachers unions make vouchers politically impossible at the moment, the rise of charter schools has introduced a hopeful element of excellence, choice and accountability into our public-school system.
Just ask Carmen Melendez, whose two daughters — Camilla, 9, and Catalina, 7 — attend Success Academy 2 in Harlem. Melendez says that even though her daughter Camilla qualified for a gifted-and-talented program in the traditional public schools, she decided to stay with the charter because “Success has a clear vision of what they want to do with the children.”
Khadijah Pickel is the mother of twins Idris and Ruqayah, 10, who are also Success Academy students. “I went to District 5 public schools, but you want better for your kids,” says Pickel. “I wasn’t willing to gamble with my children’s future.”
Pickel notes that friends with kids in district schools are amazed that her children have science five days a week, with projects beginning in kindergarten. She’s especially gratified that Success mainstreams kids with special needs, like Ruqayah, who has autism.
To give a hint of the demand, last month Success held its annual lottery for admission, attracting 12,500 applicants for a mere 1,400 slots. That means disappointment for thousands of moms who were not as lucky as Melendez and Pickel and their kids.
Sadly, as Success CEO Eva Moskowitz points out, if some mayoral candidates get their way, mothers will have less choice and more disappointment in the future. These are the politicians working to make life more difficult for charters. Their current tactic is to oppose co-locating charters in existing public-school buildings. Charters need co-location because, unlike public schools, they get no money to finance buildings.
The way Pickel sees it, “Nothing’s worse than telling a parent that they can’t send their kids where they want to.”
The way we see it? Mother knows best.