An Open Response to Rep. Noel Frame

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This rolled through my Twitter feed during the height of the charter school political advocacy campaign during this most recent legislative session.

I shared it with the 24 other "people" following me on Twitter at the time. I also tagged Rep. Noel Frame (D-Seattle) in replies making clear that this was not an acceptable response.

I also left her a phone message a couple nights later as part of phone-banking for charter schools. I made sure to mention this Tweet then, too.

She sent me a message on Twitter the next day asking for my email address, and a day or two later I had a note in my inbox:

Hi Matt,

Thank you for sending your email over.

In response to your phone message stating:

"And the lack of foresight that she is showing and this is really troubling me and I am also seeing someone who doesn’t understand her privilege she told one of our parents to just consider enrolling her child in private because students in public school often get the short end of the stick.  And the idea that a legislator is going to recommend private school to a parent who is trying to keep her kid in a functional public school is really hard to stomach."

I absolutely did not tell a parent to "consider enrolling her child in private school." I told her in-person that I respect her right as a parent to do what is best for her child, reiterated this on Twitter, and added on Twitter that I respect her views and advocacy, but we have to agree to disagree.

Two Charter School parents who have been in touch with me before this were so embarrassed by this parent's mischaracterization of my words on Twitter that they came to apologize to me personally yesterday.

Also, today I met with three students and a staff member from Summit Sierra. I took the time to hear their views and shared mine in a very respectful and encouraging way.

I hope you'll take it upon yourself to let your Twitter followers know I responded and correct this misinterpretation.

Thank you,

Noel

 

Below is my response:

 
Noel,
Thank you for your email.
If my phone message was overly zealous, it was only because I feel such a sense of urgency about the issue of charter schools. I only hoped to get your attention and urge you to reconsider your position.
My Twitter followers are few. That aside, I've given this a lot of thought, and I have not "corrected my misinterpretation." Unless some significant new information comes to light, I do not plan to do so.
For starters, unless you are accusing this parent of intentionally lying or misrepresenting you, then even if your words meant something different to you, that parent is summarizing what you communicated to her. She is free to do that even if you wish she had understood you differently.
Perhaps more importantly, though, I don't believe your position on this issue has been misrepresented. Whether or not you specifically said those words, they do summarize the effect your beliefs and your actions on the matter of charter schools have had on this parent and many like her. Even if the story isn't true, per se, the message is accurate.
Roughly 30 percent of school-age children in Seattle attend private school. Typically, this is done in pursuit of a better education than they believe their neighborhood school can offer. But most private school parents, of course, have to pay tuition, so it’s a school choice that’s not available to everyone. Unless there is similar free option for all parents, then school choice has become a privilege.
But that’s okay, right? Even without a second option, all parents are still being offered a free education for their children. Why do they need another option? After all, the system works for many students.
The problem is that it’s also failing many students, and you can identify who those kids are most likely to be based on their race and their families’ income. That’s a huge problem.
Just a few years ago, for example, Seattle Public Schools were the subject of a federal investigation into their disproportionate discipline of students of color.
If you’re raising an African-American boy, now you know both statistically and anecdotally that your son will be disciplined more frequently and treated more harshly in school because of the color of his skin. He is likely to be tracked into less-rigorous classes and taught by teachers who expect less of him because of how he looks.
So, while the system works for many, you know your son is particularly at risk of it not working for him. No matter what you do, the deck is stacked against him.
Imagine being a parent in this situation, knowing that you are being told to send your child into an environment like this, into a system built to work against him from the very beginning. It makes you angry. It makes you afraid of what that might do to your little boy. It makes you desperate to do something, to get your kid out of that school and out of harm’s way.
But instead, if you can’t afford private school tuition, you’re all but stuck in the system. You can try to choose a different public school in the same problematic district, but option schools fill up quickly, too. And in some ways, this just represents a new school that’s still inevitably playing by the same problematic rules, still part of the same problematic system. It's still a big risk.
So, given that it’s possible for an entire district to be impacted by the same problem, having some free public schools — like charter schools — that are allowed to be different, allowed to operate outside the norm of a system that is rigged based on race, allowed to hire people they believe will teach all students... I can see how that might be a good thing.
And this is the key to understanding charter schools as an issue of racial and social equity. Charter schools help extend that privilege of school choice — a privilege so many families of means are already exercising by moving to expensive neighborhoods with higher-performing schools or by enrolling in private schools — to all students and all families.
Let's be clear: charter schools aren’t perfect. They’re not The Answer. But if nothing else, they’re trying to be different, and that’s important, given the state of things.
This is about more than the 1,100 students currently enrolled in charter schools in Washington. This is an issue of equity. It is an issue of building a network of schools that can and will serve our most vulnerable and most oppressed populations as well as our most privileged are already being served. It is about extending school choice to all families, not just to those who can afford it. It is about putting some real weight behind your vote to "close the opportunity gap."
Thank you again for your email. I appreciate your engagement and your thoughtful reconsideration of this issue.
Best,

Matt Halvorson

 

I have not heard back from her.