Michigan Civil Rights Commission hears stories of charter school success

Charter school parents, board members, graduates, authorizers and advocates from around the state testified before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission (MCRC) on July 23, letting them know about the many successes that students are enjoying in college and beyond thanks to their charter school education.

The MCRC hearing, which took place at the Grand Traverse Resort just outside Traverse City, was designed to hear testimony on possible discrimination in K-12 education. It was the second of four such hearings taking place around the state, and had a special focus on discrimination facing rural, migrant and homeless students.

At the first MCRC hearing in May, held in Ypsilanti, several traditional public school supporters testified that school choice and charter schools were contributing to discrimination in K-12 education, and hurting students. The charter school supporters who testified in Traverse City said they took great exception to that assessment.

Natalie Fenchel, a 2015 graduate of Grand Traverse Academy (a K-12 charter school in Traverse City), is currently a nursing student at Lake Superior State University. She told the Civil Rights Commission that because she was able to dual enroll at her charter school, she entered LSSU with 25 college credits already under her belt.

“There are a lot of misconceptions about charter schools,” Fenchel said. “I really got a lot of benefits from going there, and continue to throughout my college career. Especially with nursing school, I feel so well-prepared. Traverse City is pretty rural, and charter schools really provide that second option (for students). Grand Traverse Academy provided so many of the benefits that maybe rural students wouldn’t be able to get otherwise. I’m just really grateful I went to (a charter school). It’s helped me pursue my nursing degree.”

Lesley Werth, a charter school parent who is the school board president at Grand Traverse Academy, told the MCRC that the 80 members of this year’s graduating class collected nearly $1 million in scholarship money.

“I wasn’t able to attend your last meeting in Ypsilanti, but I understand that some people told you that school choice and charter schools were hurting K-12 education in Michigan,” Werth said. “As a charter school board member and parent, I’m here to tell you that parents at Grand Traverse Academy would strongly disagree with that assessment. School choice and charter schools have given their children hope.”

Bill Pistulka traveled south to the meeting from Marquette, where he works as a charter schools officer at Northern Michigan University, one of the state’s charter school authorizers. Pistulka told the MCRC that charter schools have helped deliver hope and opportunity to rural students in the Upper Peninsula.

Bill Pistulka of the Northern Michigan University Charter Schools Office testifies before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission.

“In the past, students in the U.P. were limited to the three M’s – you either went in the mines,  the mills or the military,” Pistulka said. “Really, the option wasn’t out there to continue in higher ed and go to college. We need to look at choice as helping to provide that opportunity.”

Dan Quisenberry, the President of the state charter school association, MAPSA, told the commissioners about three rural charter schools in Michigan that were enjoying phenomenal success in terms of sending students to college. He told the story of Charlton Heston Academy, a rural charter school in tiny St. Helen. The community came together to open Charlton Heston Academy as a charter school after the local school district in Roscommon voted to close the only school in town.

“The residents didn’t just save the school; they saved the community,” Quisenberry said. “In 2017, Charlton Heston Academy held its first high school graduation ceremony, and I had the honor of being there for it. One of the students I met was Alexis Chapman, the Salutatorian of the class. She’s currently attending Northern Michigan University with the goal of becoming an English teacher. She said that dream never would have been possible without the skills and confidence she gained at her rural charter school, Charlton Heston Academy.”

Buddy Moorehouse, the VP of Communications at MAPSA (and a charter school parent), passed on to the commissioners several letters that MAPSA had received from charter school parents, telling their stories of charter school success.

“Each one of these letters contains a story from a charter school parent about how school choice and charter schools have enabled their children to have a brighter future,” Moorehouse said. “So when you hear from some people that ‘school choice and charter schools don’t work,’ you aren’t getting the full story. These parents know firsthand that charter schools don’t contribute to discrimination in education. They contribute to hope in education.”

For a look at Natalie Fenchel’s testimony before the Michigan Civil Rights Commission, see the video below.

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The Livingston Post is the only locally owned, all-digital information and opinion site in Livingston County, Mich. It was launched by award-winning journalists who were laid off from the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus by Gannett Co. Inc. in 2009.