Our School

I just finished reading "Our School" by Joanne Jacobs, who blogs on education here. In case you're unfamiliar with the book, it tracks the progress of DCP, Downtown College Prep, a charter school startup in San Jose. DCP caters to Hispanic kids, many who speak poor English, who probably aren't going to make it in a traditional school. DCP instills in these students the values it will take them to succeed.

It's really a wonderful book for entrepreneurs as well. As the founders of the school found that some of their ideals, when implemented, didn't work, they didn't try to 'fit a round peg in a square hole', they readjusted and readusted until they were successful. Success for the students was the main priority, not the founders' ideals.

As Kevin Drum pointed out in his review of the book, it's clear the Jacobs is an advocate for charter schools. But, that fact doesn't make light of the success story that is DCP. I think the key factor in DCP's success is the founders' leadership, namely Greg Lippman. Leadership is not usually on display in a public school, at least by a principal. School boards centralize power and turn principals into administrators not leaders. Charter schools, at least in DCP's case, turn centralization on it's head. Charter's allow the school to cater it's method to the students, not force the students to change to meet the school. I think that's another important aspect of the success of DCP, ability to change.

I believe that charter schools and voucher programs won't hurt the public schools. They'll make the public schools better by instilling in the public schools some accountability to their clients instead of offering excuses. If I'm a parent sending my kid to your organization for 12 or 13 years, I'm going to expect my kid to be able to read and do math at a level that makes him employable. I don't care why it doesn't get done. Just get it done. If the school is throwing up road blocks not allowing me to send my kid to another school because it takes away their funding, I'm going to be doubly upset. Get it done! Charter schools have no choice, they have to make their clients happy or else they have no clients. Public schools have no real accountability because they have the political clout to force parents to send their kids to them.

I would recommend "Our School" for anyone interested in education and also in entrepreneurship. There are some important lessons to be learned from DCP.