Opposing IDEA in AISD: What’s Next?
We lost. And by lost I mean that not only did the Austin Independent School District Board of Trustees vote to partner with IDEA to replace Allan Elementary and Eastside Memorial High School with IDEA charter schools, but that all the testimony, all the letters, and all the phone calls didn’t seem to garner even a meaningful response from the Board (or District), much less a “no” vote from any but the three trustees who showed an ideological distaste for charter schools to begin with. Superintendent Carstarphen addressed more of our concerns than anyone else; Trustees Bradley and Guzman didn’t seem to notice us at all. It was disheartening.
Not that I don’t believe this issue hasn’t awakened many of us, though, and I do believe that our activism, though late to the fight this time around, will significantly benefit East Austin children. I’m new to Austin and even newer to the Eastside, but it’s clear to me that the only long-term path is to personally invest in our neighborhood schools, send our children and grandchildren to those schools, and advocate their accomplishments widely.
As for right now, well, it’s interesting. I didn’t support IDEA then and I don’t now.
As for the boycott, at first I was uncomfortable with it, thinking it was a bit like running negative ads in a political campaign instead of emphasizing what’s great about our neighborhood public schools. But I support the effort as long as we err on the side of fairness and respect. If IDEA needs certain enrollment to move forward, and if we, by showing parents that our neighborhood public schools are a better choice, can stop IDEA from opening their schools, I think we’ll have done a good thing.
As for demanding answers from the District about IDEA’s implementation, I can’t help but think of Trustee Barksdale tirelessly going through the IDEA contract last month, shortly before the Board voted to approve it. I don’t think she supported IDEA with or without her contract amendments, but I think she knew it would pass anyway. It would have been so understandable for her to sit back and say, well, if you’re not going to listen to the community, if you’re not going to listen to me, then, go ahead, suit yourself, and watch it all crumble. In the end it may well crumble, but there’s no doubt that the students in East Austin will benefit from her commitment to make the IDEA contract better for East Austin students and teachers.
All of which is to say, though a bit paradoxical, working to prevent IDEA from happening isn’t incongruous with working to make it better should it happen.
Because if the day comes, and it probably will, that one of our neighborhood children steps into an IDEA school next fall, well, everything changes. At that point we’ve lost this battle and must direct our attention to the greater cause of providing the best education we can to our neighborhood kids, regardless of which school they attend. On that day, IDEA joins the District, our vertical team, and our community and we must work to better the education provided in that school with no less passion than we would any other school. Because we must remember it’s about the kids, and they must not serve as pawns in our arguments over the best way to educate the next generation.
By Luke M. Muszkiewicz
