Fighting to Keep Failure Factories Open

An issue that Baltimore City Public School System (BCPSS) recently dealt with that I find very interesting (and equally infuriating) is that when the failing charter school, Bluford Drew Jemison STEM Academy, was being threatened with non-renewal, there were multiple stakeholders (and not just the Executive Director who makes over $100,000 for doing virtually nothing) fighting to keep it open. 

I am specifically in support of the district’s decision to non-renew the BDJ charter based on my experiences as teacher at their West location last year. However, as detailed in a recent Baltimore Sun article, there are many who were trying to keep the charter in operation.  

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/education/blog/bs-md-charter-school-debate-20130209,0,6017624.story?track=rs

Ms. Emory who made many of the comments in the article is a retired principal who ran the BDJ West building back when it was Walbrook High School. She still hangs around the school, now that it is BDJ, yet has no positive impact on the school culture. Last year, the middle school was essentially a fight club for students; in fact, multiple teachers (including myself) were assaulted and sexually harassed on more than one occasion. I am baffled that she continues to make such positive remarks about the school, considering she has actually seen it in action. 

Additionally, multiple BDJ students from both locations also protested the closing by attending BCPSS Board Meetings with in their uniforms and with signs. I even ran into one of my former students there. He was one of the few great students I taught, but I was shocked to see him standing up for a charter organization that, if anything, threatened his ability to excel academically (given that it was a generally chaotic and often dangerous place to go to school). 

I can’t help but question: are the people who were fighting (for reasons other than financial incentive) to keep the BDJ charter (and other schools like it) around just delusional or is this really their idea of a good school because they just haven’t experienced any better themselves (as students or as educators)?