By Gloria Bonilla Santiago
In most of our cities, children have been told that if they go to school, do well and get into college, then a good job and happy life will follow.
The closer you look, the more this promise begins to seem more like a fantasy. No one denies that education is important and, for many kids, the only way out of poverty. It’s just that the path to achievement and advancement is easier for some than for others. Children of color face barriers to success every single day, from a very early age, that white children never even have to think — let alone worry — about.
For years, the saying “everyone has a right to a quality education” overlooked one reality: What was being said wasn’t being done. When I arrived in Camden in the 1980s, I was appalled to see that this right was being wronged by a terribly inequitable system. There were numerous neighborhood public schools. But they barely gave Black and brown children a chance to succeed. Kids were shoe-horned in overcrowded classes and taught by teachers who lacked personal interest in their students. When June came, many of these children were being socially promoted without ever earning that promotion.
It was frustrating to those of us who had to watch good kids, smart kids, enrolled in neighborhood “garage” schools that allowed anyone to graduate, whether or not they deserved it. I saw dilapidated school buildings. Principals who were collecting big paychecks for little performance. Kids being handed diplomas without being able to read them or to write or solve basic math. This form of systemic racism was blatant and, for a long time, accepted form of perpetual social inequality that would have decades of consequences to the students.
Something had to change. In many urban communities, we built charter schools as models to end educational and social inequalities, designing a learning model that would be equitable and provide students with the opportunity to academically succeed. Public charters came to the fore to begin to reshape the paradigm.
At LEAP Academy in Camden, for instance, we created and implemented a new integrated community hub school model – one that made administrators, teachers and family members equal stakeholders in a student’s success. We extended both the school day and the academic year. We established metrics for teachers and made them accountable for exceeding expectations – implementing pay for performance metrics to reward those who helped their students thrive.
We took into account that inner-city parents needed to be part of the solution and we provided access to some basic services, like medical care, education support and neighborhood-based employment opportunities. We designed a school that became a community hub unto itself.
We built an environment and climate that lifted our children up – giving them access, love and support to get into college and build a career. These children are graduating with the necessary skills and competencies to stand up to any type of racism or prejudice. They are resilient, strong will minded and self-assured of who they are.
Our Community Hub charter model lifted all parties – students, teachers, administrators and parents and the neighborhoods. We stressed access to a college-prep curriculum at all grades -from infancy to college pipeline, incorporating local colleges as partners with open access to dual enrollment courses where all our students are enrolled in college courses before they graduate high school. We never let any family believe college was going to be too hard or cost too much money for their child.
To remove financial barriers, we raised money for scholarships, helped students identify schools to apply to very early and even converted each student’s 12th-grade curriculum to all college classes through partnerships with Rutgers University, Rowan University, and Camden Community college as well as Cabrini University.
Our record has spoken for itself. In June, LEAP Academy marked its 16th straight class of students to achieve 100% graduation and college placement.
Critics of charter schools see us as a threat to the traditional school model. They say we rob funding from district schools, take jobs from unionized teachers and spark student migration, leaving seats in neighborhood schools. Lost in that criticism is the fact that we deliver better results for urban students and families at a third less cost per student that traditional public schools receive. Moreover, we are building good working relationships with our city’s school district – sharing best practices and finding ways to work together.
You see, delivering a good education that is free of racist and biased practices to those who live in low-income districts is something that we should all strive for – charter or a traditional school. Each student who leaves a Camden school for a seat at a good college represents a victory over the systemic racism that has been present in urban education for way too long.
While our society is reckoning over race, we are providing an example of how to create opportunities for Black and brown children. By doing so, we give them an opportunity to reach their true potential and liberate themselves to reach for their stars.
Gloria Bonilla-Santiago is the founder and board chair of LEAP Academy University Charter School in Camden and a Board of Governors Distinguished Service Professor in the Graduate Department of Public Policy and Administration at Rutgers University. She also directs the Community Leadership Center at Rutgers-Camden.
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