Why I support Charter Schools in Billings

Let me be clear from the start, I think good public schools are important for the Billings Community. I am a product of a public school in rural Minnesota and I received a tremendous education there. The education was so good, that I had no problem in college earning a degree in a challenging major of Meteorology.

I, like many successful people, can point to teachers instrumental to my professional success. I can go on and on about the impact 3 math teachers and 1 chemistry/physics teacher had on me. There is a lot of Chemistry in Meteorology (ozone layer and pollution), but since I was taught that subject well, I did not have to take a Chemistry course in college. I aced both Atmospheric Chemistry courses I took in college (one in undergrad and one in grad school).

I know what a good education looks like and I know that good teachers are always involved. However, I should get some credit too. I put in the work that my teachers expected me to put in. In the case of math, there were periods where I put in more work that my teachers expected. The goal was to solve problems fast and correctly. I wanted my test paper to be turned in first in the class and have a perfect score.

Now have have two children of my own and they have attended Billings Public Schools 3 and 8 years. Both of my kids received a great education K-2. In fact, a much better education that I received back in Minnesota. The 5 teachers we worked with were fabulous. Both kids started reading books in Kindergarten.

My wife and I became parents that public schools want to see. We joined the PTA and served actively (my wife mostly). We both volunteered in the classroom (again my wife mostly). We supported school bonds and mil levies on the ballot. So what happened?

In third grade, the educational paradigm changes. The maximum class size increases from 20 in 2nd grade to 28 in third grade. Teachers are no longer able to teach all students at the level they are capable of and instead have to teach at the average level (sometimes at the level of the weakest student). At the same time,  the Cherry Creek development significantly increased the number of students of low income families that attend my children's elementary school. These students are more likely to be behind grade level for diverse reasons.

When my daughter was in 5th grade, I noticed that her standardized test scores were falling, even though she was getting As and Bs on her report card. Math fell from slightly above average to well below average. She would rarely bring homework home, but when she did, it was obvious that she didn't learn math very well and she was struggling as a result.

After investigating what happened, here are some facts to ponder...

• In 4th grade (I think) one student was biting my daughter at school. This is a form of bullying and it had a negative impact on my daughter's education. The schools solution was mandate that neither student go near each other, nor talk to each other. Both kids had common friends, but is was my daughter, who lost friends from this action. My daughter did before-school classroom chores, like sharpening pencils, and one day the bully walked into the classroom. A teacher caught my daughter talking to her, so my daughter got written up. Way to punish the victim School District 2. 
• We made a request that the bully and our daughter be placed in different classrooms in 5th grade. The principal accepted our request. However, our daughter didn't get a good teacher in 5th grade. She didn't learn hardly any math in fifth grade. She fell from being proficient in math to "nearing proficient" in math. This means she learned less than half of the math 5th graders are expected to learn in 5th grade. 
• During this time, my daughter was getting As and Bs on her report card. An A is defined as "exceptional" and a B is defined as "above average." The NWEA test showed that she was below average in math and really low after 5th grade. So the school district was telling us that our child was doing better in school, than she actually was. This is called grade inflation. Kids sometimes never do well on standardized tests, so we got second opinions. Turns out the NWEA scores is accurate, so the school district was lying to us. 
• I was always bothered that my daughter infrequently brought math homework home during elementary school. This was maybe once every two weeks at most. This is the number one reason why my daughter is behind grade level in math. She was never required to practice what she learned in math, so she could not remember it later for the standardized test, nor for more advanced math the next year.
• Common Core Standards were implemented in 5th grade and that had a negative impact. These standards are at a higher level than the previous standards. Teachers sped through the material before the students really mastered it. Students are capable of learning more than a grade level of material in a school year, but not without extra homework. Work was rare and inconsistent and the entire 5th grade class suffered. 

I did meet privately with the principal of my children's school and her boss, because there are big problems that need to be addressed immediately. First, I requested that the school district stop the practice of grade inflation on report cards. Had I known that my daughter was struggling in math, we could have worked with her teachers to get her the help she needed before it became a big problem. Their response was higher grades are used to encourage students to stick with it. 

Second, I begged them to require more homework to be sent home, so we can teach material that the teacher was unable to do that day. Please let us help the teacher do her job. Their response was many more parents complain that the school district assigned too much homework. 

This meeting was a waste of my time, because school district administrators are set with their philosophies. In the current school year, nothing has changed. My daughter is still getting inflated grades and very little homework is taken home. A meeting with the superintendent and letters to the school board were a waste of time too. 

As one parent, there is not much I can do to improve the education that my children get in the public school. Should I not be angry for the bad education my daughter received after 3rd grade? It is really insulting to be treated like this after all the hours my family has invested in the public schools in Billings. 

For the past year, I have been openly critical of School District 2 for not serving students well...especially in math. About one third of the students are not proficient in math and my daughter is one of them. Many more will not know math well enough to survive required math classes in college. Standardized test scores in math are dreadful and they haven't improved in years. If you are forced to send your child to a Title 1 school (with lots of children from low income families), then expect your child to get an even worse education. I realized this fact too late.

The problem is that School District 2 has no incentive to improve academics. Everyone gets paid the same whether 90% of the students graduate or 30% of the students graduate. They do not have to listen to anything I say as a result. Or as the Principal of my children's elementary school likes to say: "I cannot please everyone" to any parent expecting more from the school. 

So this is why I support Charter Schools for Billings. The best way to send a message to arrogant people is to introduce legitimate competition. I would send my children to a charter school in a heartbeat given my experience of the last 4 years. This is why school districts are spending taxpayer funding to send people to Helena to fight charter schools. They want to keep the power and high salaries, while students get the shaft. 

Virgil Middendorf