It’s hard to believe we are now facing the middle of another school year. With Christmas around the corner, the end of the second quarter will be upon us. We have now come to some conclusions about our children, their teachers, their schools. Some families are happy, and will continue to be happy with the education their children are receiving, in the name of public service.

But some students are struggling. Some are forced into programs and courses they don’t want, or need; some are being diagnosed with disorders, and learning disabilities because they don’t “fit” or they can’t sit still because they’re bored; some are being labeled – many informally; and some have been told that after four years of high school, they may only get a “Certificate of Attendance” – if they complete that.

Many of our high school students will drop out. Our state loses an average of 2,000 students a year. Some parents will hear inflated figures, and misrepresentation of statistics – 96 percent of graduating seniors go on to post-secondary education. Funny, but the state average is 68 percent. High school completion rates for public education cohorts rarely passes 85 percent.

What does this mean? It means we are losing our kids. We are creating a system of joblessness and social inequity and anyone who believes that piling meaningless test upon meaningless test is going to solve that problem has reverted back to the “toe the line” mentality of the early 1900s – this is not reform.

Once again, in January, a bill will be introduced to our Maine legislators to expand our public school options, to enable parents and guardians to care for their children by allowing them a choice of schools. We are now one in nine states left that does not embrace our right to educate our students as individuals, and as social, emotional and intellectual people. We pay high property taxes in Maine, we should be allowed to have a public school system that, as John Dewey, the founder of progressive education, stated, “is not anchored in the teacher, the textbook or anywhere and everywhere you please, except in the child.”

Public charter schools, or perhaps more adroitly called chartered public schools, embrace progressive and innovative methodology aimed at reaching all students. A charter is a contract written by a governing board of parents and teachers who are concerned about losing bright and capable students. The mission of the charter school system is educating all students, in a style that is more meaningful to the student, in an environment of care and compassion, and at no extra cost to their families.

This is reform.

Some have heard that charter schools have failed to prove accountability and learning, and that charter schools “take away money from public schools.” More than 61 studies have found that “charter schools have been innovative, accountable, and successful and have created opportunities for the children who attend them” (Center for Education Reform, www.edreform.com).

I would also argue that a community with satisfied parents and students will not have the climate necessary to establish a new public chartered school and therefore, will lose no money in funding, and that these schools should be models of education. However, the districts whose families are becoming disenfranchised, whose students are losing ground, whose parents are continually worried that their student will not graduate, will at least have an option if a charter school is established in their area.

The public charter school as reform is at least worth a shot. We can’t afford not to anymore. (www.state.me/education/enroll/).

I have been a teacher for 12 years, and a parent for 18. As a teacher, I know the struggle with mandates, meetings, new rules and regulations, curriculum changes, more testing, and government and administration that is never happy with the status quo – all in the name of “reform.” As a parent, I have experienced frustration with educational policy that conflicts with the academic and emotional needs of my children. That’s why I support this movement.

Teachers want to teach. School districts should have a responsibility to offer programs that allow for the most positive learning, in the most positive learning environment. Keep our public schools, but offer a choice. And parents (although in Maine they cannot) should be able to choose where and how their children are educated. For free. Ultimately, students’ needs – who are what this thing is all about – should come first. That’s also why I support this movement.

I urge all parents and guardians who have struggled with their student and educational policy, and who are worried about keeping them engaged and in school, to please contact legislators. Our children depend on us to support them. It is our responsibility to change, to listen to our children, to do something different, and to make sure they are educated members of our community and society.

We need Maine, like other states, to have parental options for schools in 2005. If it’s about money – we’ll spend that on welfare, and rehabilitation for those students who never had a choice. But let’s stop that now, and find another option.

For more information contact www.mainecharterschools.org, or e-mail macs@mainecharterschools.org.

Cheryl Saliwanchik-Brown is a member of the Maine Association for Charter Schools, a former high school teacher, and a doctoral student at the University of Maine.