BY JAYNIE AYDIN, PhD
While Tahoe /Truckee parents are fortunate to have so many choices of where to send their kids to school, they also need to be reminded of what I call the privatization factor that clearly exists in the local, public-education arena. I came to my position as director of Twin Ridges Home Study Charter School one year ago, after working as a social science professor in both public and private universities. At least at the university level, I have observed firsthand how powerful community figures — often times without a background in education — can influence and manipulate public educational programming that is theoretically created for the benefit of everyone and not just a few. I clearly remember departmental chairs walking the university halls, hand in hand, with the institutional benefactors who conveyed their preference for the types of classes offered, manner in which they were taught, and even who would be teaching those classes.
Public charter schools were initially created to give communities more choices when it came to selecting programs worthy of educational benefits for their children. They were not designed as an avenue where the social elite could control the delivery of an entire community’s education while simultaneously receiving tax breaks. The more and more I read about Creekside’s Squaw Valley Preparatory program, complete with hundreds of dollars in “suggested” donations, branded T-shirts and ball caps, and a preferential high school enrollment list, the more convinced I am that public K-12 education is indeed susceptible to university-style privatization at an ever-increasing rate. Unfortunately, this means that local traditional public schools, as well as charter schools, are forced to engage in a competitive market psychology where the students suddenly become the consumer and the role as a scholar seems to become less and less important.
Creekside Director Camille Taylor was quoted asking the question, “What is it that the community might need and sustain without negatively impacting existing programs?” Seemingly, without hesitation, she said, “We know it does impact other schools.” The truth, Ms. Taylor, is that the exodus of former Twin Ridges Home Study students to Creekside’s “independent study” program momentarily crippled our program. Over 25 percent of our students left Twin Ridges for the promise of more social activities, easier access to the lifts, and a guaranteed spot in the high school Squaw Valley program. Yet there is nothing the parent/student/teacher team can do in Creekside’s independent study program that they cannot do in ours. Twin Ridges Home Study has always supported the individual needs of budding professional athletes, dancers, artists, and unique scholars who enjoy the opportunity to school at home with a parent or skilled and talented mentor guiding them.
Twin Ridges Home Study Charter School does not sell anything apart from a commitment to keep students centered on their innate potential and individual strengths and not on the trends that are occurring around them. In our program, there is no gimmick or any other sales point except the support of families in tailoring their own approach to homeschooling. I am just hoping that our little public charter school will be able to survive in the Tahoe/Truckee area and continue to serve authentic homeschooling families. As public educators, we wish to support those who are genuinely interested in thriving in a program that is not centered on flashy brochures with promises of delivering a “razzle-dazzle” program and one that has not yet been tried or tested.
Our school has been in existence for over 30 years. Chartered through Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, we currently provide support for homeschooling families in the Truckee/Tahoe area. Although our school failed a mention in the “Fractured Lines of School Choice” article, we are yet another outstanding option for public charter schooling in the Truckee/Tahoe area.
~ Jaynie Aydin is the director of Twin Ridges Home Study Charter School.
