The recent firing of Principal Ron Russo by the Board of Directors of the Wilmington Charter School has left El Somnambulo with more questions than answers. That’s why he needs your feedback on those questions. But first, a brief history of Wilmington Charter and the current situation.
The Delaware General Assembly, as part of Tomas Carperito’s education reform initiatives, authorized the formation of charter schools in 1995. The Charter School of Wilmington was chartered through Red Clay Consolidated School District in 1996. Red Clay also provides assistance (including not charging any rent, possibly only charging for utilities) to Charter. Charter of Wilmington emphasizes an intensive math and science curriculum.
Wilmington Charter is unusual in that it is a public/private school, receiving state funds and district assistance from Red Clay, while being governed by its own board. The school is actually operated by six companies, Astra Zeneca, Christiana Care, Delmarva Power, duPont, Hercules, and Verizon. The Board of Directors is largely comprised of members from those corporations.
Last week, Principal Ron Russo was fired by the Board for alleged sexual harassment. No details have surfaced, although plenty of rumors have. It looks like there will be an ugly (or beautiful, if you enjoy train wrecks), confrontation between Russo and the Board. In ‘Bulo’s first 2009 Quote of the Year nomination, the News-Journal quotes Russo’s attorney, Tom Neuberger, as follows: “All those board members will be defendants in a court case and will be held liable in punitive damages. It is their houses we’re going to sell.”
While Charter’s students almost invariably score very high on tests, and while almost all of them go to college, ‘Bulo wonders whether it’s a ‘pollo vs. jueva’ situation. With that, please help the Beast Who Slumbers answer the following, or please post questions of your own:
Because of the universal admission test required for Charter, are scores high b/c Charter has skimmed the cream from Delaware’s students, or are scores high b/c of the caliber of the school itself?
How can any school receiving public funds selectively pick and choose who may attend? Is it right or fair?
Is public education better or worse off with self-selecting schools like Charter?
Do corporate interests, other than the need for a well-educated work force, in any way drive the curriculum and/or the selection process? ‘Bulo asks this in part b/c, for example, Christiana Care’s corporate lobbyist Wayne Smith, made resegregation his top legislative priority when he served in the House of Representatives. And Christiana Care partially runs the school.
Was Russo treated fairly? Even if you determine that he was not treated fairly, how do you react to his lawyer threatening scorched-earth tactics on the school Russo presumably loves?
Is Charter likely to be a long-term success or, as suggested by Russo, is it likely to falter without its supposed visionary leader?