I recently talked to my daughter, Carolyn, about what I have learned in my six years serving on the SAD 22 school board. I explained that there are many good people throughout the school system trying to do their best. Even so, I have come to deeply understand that only substantial change to the system will compel the public schools toward adequate improvement. The change should be to actively help families striving for a high quality education. Carolyn suggested that it would be better to keep the dissatisfied parents held within the system, so they would agitate for improvement. I explained that this is the current system, and asked her how it was working. She quietly responded that it isn’t enough.

I’ve thought about why I served six years on the school board. It goes back to when Carolyn was in the seventh grade. As we played cards one weekend, I realized she was figuring single digit addition over and over again. She did not have these simple math facts memorized. When I discussed this with her math teacher, he mentioned that many of her classmates also hadn’t memorized single digit addition. He wasn’t concerned about Carolyn; she was receiving A’s in his class. I was appalled. My plan was to transfer my children to a challenging, independent school, and serve on the SAD 22 school board to bring change and improvement.

The first part of my plan worked very well. My older son blossomed when he transferred his junior year. For the first time, he brought home homework every single night. As he struggled to master the material, demanding and helpful teachers supported him. Unless a parent has had the same student in two different schools, it is hard to understand the difference a school can make. Carolyn also attended the independent school and took challenging courses each year. In her junior year, four of her five courses were not offered at Hampden Academy; Honors English III, Honors French III, AP American History and Honors Chemistry. Of these courses, only AP U.S. History is now taught at Hampden Academy. It is interesting to note that the independent school and Hampden Academy have a similar number of college prep students. Both of my children thrived in their new school.

The second part of my plan, to work within the government school system, was less satisfactory. In Penobscot County, Hampden Academy sends an average number of students on to higher education. It ranks seventh of the 14 public high schools in the county over the last five years, according to the Maine Department of Education data (www.state.me.us/education). I don’t understand why a smaller percentage of Hampden Academy students go on to further education than students at Stearns High School, Katahdin High School, Bangor High School, Brewer High School, Orono High School or Penobscot Valley High School. Our Hampden students come from families with a higher education level than the state average. We can do much better.

In order to bring significant improvement and create a sense of urgency, Maine should focus on supporting parents eager for a high quality education. Their children need a good education now because a child’s education can’t be put on hold until the public schools improve. By legislative action, Maine could offer public school choice, as nine states already have or public schools of choice (charter schools) as in 37 states. We could have tax credits so parents won’t pay twice for education as in three states or simply expand Maine’s unique “town tuitioning” system to include poor families. Through private organizing, we could offer private scholarships as in 33 other states. Many improvements have occurred within the public schools in areas where these programs were instituted. (Data from the Center for Education Reform; www.edreform.com.)

A recent survey showed that the majority of Maine voters support school choice. In the 1998 Maine Development Foundation annual survey of citizens, the majority supported the question, “Should parents have the option of using government funds to send their children to the school of their choice, whether that be private, parochial or private school?” The strongest support was from those with less than a high school diploma, younger than 35 years old or an annual income of less than $15,000. The most opposition came from those who had completed college, were over 55 years old or had an annual income greater than $50,000. This is a shocking picture! Those with the greatest success in their own lives are most opposed to giving needy children educational opportunity. When I was an unemployed single mother of two young children, I learned what it was like to be poor. I greatly appreciated those who gave me a helping hand. Apparently a significant minority of successful people don’t realize the problems that other people face. Earlier this year 1,625 Maine families applied for a Children’s Scholarship Fund private voucher. This national group offered partial scholarships to 40,000 poor students across the nation for kindergarden to twelfth grade tuition. Ten Maine students were selected, according to the director, Douglas Dewey. There is a huge unmet need for school choice in Maine.

Choosing a more challenging school for my children and serving on the SAD 22 school board did little or nothing to improve public education. Helping poor families with high education aspirations for their childen has brought change and improvement across the country as public schools seek to keep or attract students. Why should dissatisfied poor families be limited only to their local government school? Wouldn’t teachers and principals prefer to work with parents and students who want to attend their school? The time has come to give poor families the power of school choice that the rest of us already have.

Betsy Chapman is the mother or stepmother to eight children. She served for the past six years on the SAD 22 school board. She is a stockbroker, lives in Hampden with her husband, and has four chileren in college this year.