As sins go, hypocrisy isn't so bad. In fact, you could say it's one thing that always brings us liberals and conservatives together: our all-too-human ability to be inconsistent, inconsistently.

Consider, for example, Americans' opinions about education. Liberals are supposed to be the defenders of public schools. But ask liberal parents whether they're willing to put their children into an impoverished urban school district, and very few will take you up on the offer. Conservatives, on the other hand, are supposed to love the magic of the free market. But few conservatives are willing to support school vouchers that would enable poor children of color to attend the well-funded, suburban school districts where their own kids are taught.

It's easy to call these parents hypocritical. But even if they are, could we expect anything else from them? Parents do what they think is best for their children. It's assumed that they will be protective--even a tad overprotective. Can we really fault them for not wanting to take risks with their children's futures?

In this month's issue of Inthefray.com, Nicole Leistikow takes a look at how parents in one Baltimore neighborhood arrive at their decisions about where to send their kids to school. Even among the more affluent, liberal parents in Bolton Hill, the choice between public and private is not so clear. "I don't want to experiment with my child," says one African American parent, whose four-year-old son will likely attend private school next year. Though she says she generally supports public schools, this middle-class mom wants the best education for her son--and isn't willing to risk his shot at getting that education.

"Risk," of course, is a personal judgment. When schools were desegregated in the 1950s, working-class whites (more affluent neighborhoods, for the most part, escaped integration) reacted angrily, fearing that their children would pay the price for the high-minded ideas of limousine liberals. Research since then, however, has found that desegregation dramatically helped black students and did not hurt white students. (Mixing poor students into middle-class school districts, too, has been shown to help the poor with a negligible effect upon the education of the more advantaged.) At least in terms of educational achievement, the "risks" that white parents feared turned out to be unfounded.

A generation later, are middle-class parents in Bolton Hill abandoning public schools for no rational reason? The local elementary school, Mount Royal Elementary, is doing extremely well for a public school: In fact, its fifth graders usually have the highest math scores out of all schools in statewide achievement tests. But among Bolton Hill's sizeable middle-class, it's almost impossible to find parents willing to send their kids to Mount Royal. It's black, poor, and public--three strikes too many.

In Bolton Hill's case, a new charter school--Midtown Academy--has offered a convenient compromise for parents who don't want to abandon the public school system altogether. Charters schools are normally established by groups of parents, teachers, or community activists. Like plain-vanilla public schools, charter schools receive state funding, do not charge tuition, and must accept all students. Unlike traditional schools, they are freed from many regulations--some are able to hire outside of teacher unions, for example. Most importantly, if they do not perform up to standards set in their charter, the school board or state agency that originally sponsored them can choose not to renew their charter at the end of the contract period, usually three to five years.

Perhaps because the model is so experimental, it has succeeded in winning over a significant number of Bolton Hill's richer families. It follows a simple enough principle: The carrot is the freedom from bureaucratic red tape and the flexibility to pursue creative approaches to education; the stick is the possibility that the state can revoke the school's charter if it fails to perform

Conservatives love charter schools because they bring an entrepreneurial spirit to education; liberals favor them as a promising alternative to school vouchers, which use taxpayer money to fund private schools with no obligation to admit all students and little, if any, oversight from the state. With such bipartisan support, it's not surprising that charter schools have become quite fashionable across the country: Thirty-six states have passed charter school laws, and about half a million students now attend such schools, according to one estimate. However, the initial results are mixed. Some charter schools have shown remarkable gains in increasing student achievement. Others, however, have failed outright, and many are struggling as a result of half-hearted funding and staggering workloads for teachers and administrators. There is concern, too, about whether charter schools will decrease diversity in public schools. One study in Michigan found that charter schools there were ignoring students with special needs, who cost more to educate.

Regardless of their actual effectiveness, it's all too clear that charter schools by themselves can't solve the public school system's core problem, the separate and unequal education to be found in poor and rich public school districts. That will be nearly impossible to change unless something is done to address the unfair method of funding public schools in this country, whereby affluent communities use high property taxes to dump extra wads of cash into their schools. However, charter schools like Midtown Academy may perform another important service--dispelling middle-class families' fears about public schools. Especially in urban areas, a return of middle-class families to the public school system could help shake things up. Politicians, for one, would be less likely to write off city schools, knowing that key voters have their children in them.

Which brings me back to my original point: hypocrisy. It might be foolish to assume that we can guilt wealthier parents--even ones who otherwise support public education--into sending their children to urban public schools. As the situation in Bolton Hill makes plain, families with money will not, for the most part, consider traditional public schools--including stellar ones like Mount Royal. Whether the obstacle is a particular school's racial and socioeconomic characteristics, or just the bad reputation of the overall school system, it's clear that good intentions can only go so far. These parents aren't bad people; they simply aren't willing to take any risks. Hypocrisy becomes inevitable because of a lack of acceptable choices.

Part of the answer, then, might be to give parents more choices--so that it's easier for them to choose public schools. While it remains to be seen whether charter schools are really better than traditional public schools at educating kids, it seems likely that they could, at the very least, help put a friendlier face on the public school system, and help convince middle-class parents to come back and bring the kids. Ultimately, that might turn out to be a good thing for all public schools--the Midtown Academies as well as the Mount Royal Elementaries.

This month, Inthefray.com celebrates its one-year anniversary. Our heartfelt thanks go to all the generous people who have supported us along the way--in particular, our many talented editors and contributors. On April 29, we will kick off a special issue of Inthefray.com commemorating the ten-year anniversary of the Los Angeles riots. Check out the magazine then for our unique take on an event that profoundly changed American race relations.

Victor Tan Chen
Editor, Inthefray.com
Boston

Mailbag

Whose neighborhood school?

Regarding "Bolton Hill 21217," by Nicole Leistikow (Identify, April 2002)

I wholeheartedly resent the characterization of Reservoir Hill as "blacker and poorer" in light of the article's main thrust, and that Midtown Academy should celebrate the dilution process because white Bolton Hill parents have bought into public education.

I am a new parent to the Midtown Academy, an educator, and a Reservoir Hill resident. I discovered Midtown Academy when I enrolled my younger son in Bolton Hill Nursery. Being a new resident to the city, I wasn't caught up in the prestige and allure of Bolton Hill. In fact, I couldn't have cared less. I checked the school out because I wanted a school that was nearby, effective, and could meet my child's needs. The same criteria were important in finding placement for my older son.

In surveying my neighborhood in Reservoir Hill, I realized it was fertile ground to get involved in down-and-dirty community activism/development. Unfortunately, the local school did not meet the criteria for educating my children. Nonetheless, we have and continue to work hard to turn Reservoir Hill--and all of its institutions--around. And, ironically, our neighbors and allies are not "blacker and poorer," but concerned citizens of various ethnicities and socioeconomic levels who chose to take full advantage of low-cost housing opportunities and smack-dab-in-the-middle-of-the-city life.

Coincidentally, I was hired as the assistant director at the Midtown Academy. While our efforts are intense to create an effective and successful learning community for all students, we have not done this with the hopes of luring Bolton Hill families. Our school officials understand that while the African American population of Bolton Hill is small, it's safe to assume that Bolton Hill does not necessarily mean "richer and whiter." Our goal is to bring the two communities together despite perceived differences and perpetuated prejudices and ignorance. I fully respect the right of Bolton Hill families to seek out education experiences that meet the criteria they have for their children, but will not accept it as a reflection of our school's inadequacy; we have worked far too hard to accept such off-handed and superficial criticism. The simple fact is that there are fewer non-minority school-aged children in Reservoir Hill, but that's changing as I write. And in terms of economics, I know I couldn't afford one of those awe-inspiring Reservoir Hill mansions on Madison Avenue or Eutaw Place, but someone is occupying them.

Leistikow unknowingly stepped right "in the fray," and may have rekindled the paranoia--not wholly unfounded--that the real plan of Bolton Hill residents is to make Midtown Academy a semi-private school for Bolton Hill families. Midtown is very sensitive to this concern, and the school's council and its various communities have done extensive work to reverse perceptions and negate stereotypes. By the way, one of Midtown Academy's goals as stated in its charter is to eventually become 50 percent Reservoir Hill and 50 percent Bolton Hill. While we do have a commitment to diversity, we hope that it will be a natural, eventual occurrence. We must at all costs stray far from the notion that we are catering to one community over another. And if that is the case, we need to step up our efforts to recruit Reservoir Hill families.

We will continue our efforts to recruit and enroll Bolton Hill and Reservoir Hill families--black, white, and green--who are committed to being fully involved in their child's education. I deeply regret missing the opportunity to be interviewed for this article to provide a more balanced perspective. My participation notwithstanding, it would help our school's efforts in the future if the author would not slant her writing to perpetuate and highlight all the wrong reasons for Midtown's continued growth and success.

Adrian King
Baltimore

The writer is the assistant director of Midtown Academy in Baltimore. This letter was published on Thursday, April 25. (It normally would have been published in the following month's cycle, but next month Mailbag will be devoted to our special issue on the 1992 Los Angeles riots.)

An untouchable world

Regarding "Freedom, deferred," by Marguerite Kearns (Identify, February/March 2002), "Guarded intimacy," by Safiya Bandele (Interact, March 2002), and "Poems," by ibn Kenyatta (Imagine, April 2002)

I just want to comment on Kenyatta. I am his ex-sister-in-law and we have never met, but I have heard a lot about him through the course of the years. I could never understand the reasoning behind his cause until now. The strength that this man shows is rare and amazing. I am a Christian, and if I had an ounce of what this man has I would be so effective in what I am called to do. He has created his own untouchable world, and anyone is welcome--all they have to do is hear his message. The irony of it all is how much power is in his message.

I commend you, brother, and you, your wife, and your family will always be in my prayers. I only pray that our children, especially our young men, will open their minds and ears and receive what you are saying. I thank you just for allowing me to know you through your words, your art, and your cause.

Lavinia M. Dantzler
Warner Robins, Georgia
faith1l@aol.com

Safiya's article is about what it really means to love someone who is incarcerated: the indignities, the small victories, the helplessness, the never-ending hope. It reminds those of us who are activists against the prison system beast that validating the humanity of our incarcerated brothers and sisters trapped in an inhumane system is also very important.

Robyn Spencer
[no address provided]

Some columnists suck more than others

Regarding "Another season, another reason ... for an apology," by Kelly Yamanouchi (Pulse, March 2002)

Mr. Fisher's insensate interjections are not only politically incorrect but reflective of his need for recognition that Islam and terrorism are not synonymous. Osama bin Laden and his henchmen are fanatics, not saviors of the Muslim people.

To quote Elie Wiesel: "To stem fanaticism, we must first fight indifference to evil ... We fight indifference through education; we diminish it through compassion."

Theresa Brodowski-Scram
Marquette, Michigan

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