A New Education Model for York

Published in YDR's Sunday News, February 17, 2013

We have an opportunity before us to create a change that will have a dramatic effect on the children of York City. We promised bold and innovative ideas and we have delivered on that promise. The ideas that YorkCounts and the Community Foundation researched, debated and examined in minute detail during the past year are game-changing ideas. Our recommendation to create a 100% charter school district within York City has the potential for positive outcomes for our children, our families and our community. We believe that if implemented well, the concept of Community Charter Schools will become a model that other communities will seek out to emulate.

As Eric Menzer said in May, “It is time to be alarmed, and it is time to get engaged.” We believe that charter schools will give families choice, a powerful word that evokes engagement in its very definition. Charter schools empower educators to determine how best to educate the children. Charter schools empower the administration to hold those educators accountable for results. Charter schools encourage engagement by leaders and philanthropists who will support an innovative idea that they believe has merit.

Our Education Workgroup determined that a successful school reform must:

•          Produce systemic, sustainable improvement. 

•          Benefit 100% of the students attending public school in the 

               City of York.

•          Ensure ongoing, adequate and stable financial resources. 

•          Establish visionary and inspired leadership over an 

               extended period of time.

•          Institute evidence-based educational approaches that 

               sustain a focus on student achievement. 

•          Ensure that accountability and rewards are aligned with 

               effective implementation of the pedagogy.

•          Ensure effective and collaborative management on the front lines.

•          Obtain full engagement of families and community. 

Our process to arrive at the following conclusion was a year-long, researched-based evaluation of options.  The Community Charter School option is the unanimous choice by the Community Foundation’s Board of Directors and YorkCounts committee.  Consolidation of school districts and reform of the current system are not considered to be viable options to achieve the best results (please see the report “A New Model for Education” at www.yorkcounts.org/publications). A district-wide system of Community Charter Schools would be privately run, high-performing nonprofits that would educate 100% of the students in the district.  In addition, the Community Schools model should be implemented throughout the district to provide coordinated support for students and families at every school.  The Community Schools model is an evidence-based approach that focuses on students’ needs beyond academic development, such as being healthy, well-fed and having social support. 

It is our opinion that converting all of the city’s schools to charters will generate the kind of excitement and support needed for York City schools to succeed.  A district-wide charter system would create a new operating structure and culture that could attract students from other districts, potentially de-concentrating poverty.

In order for the transition to Community Charter Schools to succeed, the following is needed:

•          State funding to facilitate the transition to an all-charter model.

•          Changes to charter school legislation to strengthen accountability 

               for academic and financial results.

•          Adoption of shared responsibility for student learning 

               between the District and charters.

•          An improved long-term governance structure for the District.

•          Continued efforts within the School District of the City of York to improve 

               academic achievement until the charter school system can be fully implemented.

Economically disadvantaged students in well-led charter schools perform significantly better than the same demographic in traditional public schools. In New Orleans, 82% of students attend charter schools, with more charters planned.  In just five years, New Schools New Orleans reduced the city/state achievement gap by half, from 26 points behind average statewide test scores to only 10 points.  Propel Schools in Pittsburgh operates eight schools and serves 2400 children.  It also took Propel students only five years to exceed statewide averages for Pennsylvania students.

York has the opportunity to make a bold, positive move that will tell our children that they deserve the best we can give them. Through empowering educators, engaging families and inspiring leaders, we will create an environment where York provides a premier education to 100% of our children.  We strongly encourage the Chief Recovery Officer for the School District of the City of York and his advisory committee to draft a recovery plan that incorporates these recommendations and helps re-create the district into one that is high-performing, with top quality and motivated educators, engaged parents and children who love learning. 

A report by the Education Policy and Leadership Center as well as the joint Foundation/YorkCounts report “A New Education Model for York” can be found online at www.yorkcounts.org/publications.

Michael Newsome, Board Chair, York County Community Foundation

William Hartman, President, York County Community Foundation