Guest MINDSETTER™ Steven F. Corrales: Achievement First is Right for Providence

Guest MINDSETTER™ Steven F. Corrales: Achievement First is Right for Providence

My parents knew first hand about the need for school choice. Recognizing that the public school my sisters and I were in was severely underperforming, they sought an alternative: Moses Brown. Unfortunately, this choice was not to be. My parents felt powerless. They knew our future was at stake but did not see any option other than leaving us in a low performing school.

This sentiment of powerlessness is a common theme among immigrant families, and often expresses the many hardships our families endure. Along with feeling powerless, immigrant parents feel voiceless as well. What may be perceived as silence, however, is actually a cry for help. Parents like mine desperately wanted great schools for their kids.

Even though I was not able to go to an independent school, I was accepted into, and graduated from a top twenty university and will soon have a masters degree from an Ivy League Institution. Without a doubt, my public school education helped me get to where I am today. Unfortunately, I am the exception and not the rule. Having been so fortunate to “make it,” I feel compelled now to use my knowledge to make the exception become the norm.

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As a college freshman, I was aware that my high school education left me lacking some of the skills that my classmates possessed. However, I was unaware of how deeply this would affect me. I quickly became frustrated. I had worked hard in high school, yet my efforts seemed futile after the first day of classes. Like my peers in my college classes, I also had a high school diploma. The only difference between their diploma and mine was the name of the high school. I could not comprehend how one piece of paper that is accepted by an admissions committee can mean so many different things. For one student it can represent a top private high school education, and for others like me, it represented an education from a public school deemed failing.

After attending the public hearings for Achievement First, it seems the priorities of the opponents were misplaced. I left these hearings confused by the messages. On the one hand, opponents say that this school will have large waiting lists and a lottery. On the other hand, they questioned Achievement First’s gap-closing record. You can’t have it both ways. If this is a great school, parents will clamor to have their children attend. If it’s not great, parents will not enroll their children. I believe that if parents want this choice for their children, they should have it. I urge the Regents to approve this application so other parents, particularly those from families like mine, can have great public school choice.

As student of education policy, I am optimistic about what Achievement First can do as an agent of change for the educational system in Providence.

 

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