OPINION

Column: Charter schools represent hope in Mississippi

Grant Callen
Guest columnist

For more than a decade, a political debate took place in the media, across the state and under the Capitol dome about whether Mississippi would allow public charter schools to operate.

Grant Callen

In 2013, the Charter Schools Act finally passed into law, and in 2015 the first free, public charter schools opened their doors. Charters are schools of choice, so no students are assigned to them. Approximately 225 Jackson students voluntarily left their schools and enrolled in one of two public charter schools. A third charter school opened this fall, quickly reached full capacity, and created a waiting list. In total, 527 Jackson students are now enrolled in public charter schools.

Yet, one year after the first charter opened, forces that lost the legislative battle over charters have taken their fight to the judiciary, filing a lawsuit in Hinds County arguing that Mississippi’s charter school law is unconstitutional. Sadly, an organization that purports to represent low-income families is attacking an institution that has opened new doors of opportunity for low-income families in Jackson. In the coming months, the fate of these three charter schools and the plans for other charters around the state will be litigated in the courtroom.

For the families who chose to enroll their children in these new schools, this is not a political cause. These charter schools represent hope — an opportunity for their children to receive a great education at a neighborhood school.

When this lawsuit was filed, our team at Empower Mississippi went to work preparing a new project to highlight the students who are benefiting from these charter schools. We brought a film crew into the charter schools and into the homes of some of these students. We wanted to give the families a platform to tell their story, to express what these schools mean to them and to share how they would feel if the charters were forced to close.

I thought the parents and students might be hesitant to go on camera. Boy, was I wrong!

These parents and students love their new schools and could not wait for the opportunity to help spread the word about the threat this lawsuit poses. Their stories are featured in a seven-minute mini-documentary film that can be viewed at www.SaveOurSchools.org.

Drew is a sixth-grader at Reimagine Prep Charter School in Jackson. She was bullied at her previous school. If you ask her about Reimagine, her face lights up, and she is quick to share how much she loves her school. She is quick to add that in her first year at Reimagine, she progressed six years in reading and is now reading at a 12th-grade level.

“We love Reimagine,” her mother, Gladys Overton, said. “The positive things we have noticed with Drew are immense. She is a brighter person, and she is excited about going to school and doing her homework.”

“The experience at my old school was not so great,” said Brianna, a sixth-grader at Midtown Public Charter School. “I had bullying problems, but now when I’m here they encourage me. It makes me feel confident about myself.”

Tiffany Minor’s daughter, Jolanda, attends Smillow Prep Charter School. Jolanda initially told her mom about Smillow because she wanted to try a new school that would provide her with more help when she was struggling.

Tiffany could not be happier with this choice and the improvements she has noticed in her daughter. “I have faith she’ll go to college,” Tiffany said. “She talks about it all the time.”

For these charter school families, there is a real fear that this lawsuit will deny this opportunity for their children.

“If the charter schools were to close we would be devastated,” Gladys said. “It would be a lost feeling.”

“I don’t want the opportunity that my daughter has to be snatched away,” Tiffany said. “She wants to go to college and I want her to be able to go to any college that she wants to go to.”

“If Reimagine were to close, then I would feel scared that I have to go to another school where I experienced the bad things I experienced at my old school,” Drew said.

I’m confident that the law is on our side and the courts will agree that Mississippi’s charter school law is constitutional, but we cannot take anything for granted. For students like Drew, Brianna, and Jolanda, the stakes are simply too high. The Save Our Schools campaign is focused on raising awareness about the opportunities these charter schools have brought to children in Jackson.

To learn more about the campaign, watch the film and add your name to the petition to Save Our Schools, please visit www.saveourschools.org.

Grant Callen is the founder and president of Empower Mississippi, an organization whose mission is to ensure that every child in Mississippi has the opportunity to flourish through access to a high-quality education.