Photo by: Will Gentry
John Rex Charter Elementary School, the first tuition-free charter school to open in downtown Oklahoma City come August, will seek to challenge its students in new ways.
John Rex Charter School began as collaboration between Oklahoma City Quality Schools and Oklahoma City Public Schools late 2011.
“The school is supposed to be offered for the children who do live right there in downtown Oklahoma City, so it should not be too difficult to reach out to the parents,” Robyn Miller, chair of the department of education at Oklahoma Christian University, said.
The downtown location was chosen as the construction point because of easier access to governmental, legal and cultural resources that the new school plans to use as a part of its educational curriculum for the students.
“I think the fact that the school is free is outstanding, and the fact that it is located in downtown Oklahoma City for children and their families who live right there is impressive,” Miller said. “My understanding is that they want to make use of what Oklahoma City offers, the arts museum, the Civic Center, the government offices, all of which is within walking distance, so that the kids can learn about them.”
John Rex was funded by the MAPS (Metro Area Projects) for Kids. MAPS, with the votes of Oklahoma City’s residents in 2001, agreed to increase taxes to help fund this charter school.
“Charter schools are like public schools,” Miller said. “They have to be contracted with some kind of sponsorship. They are an extension of what is already a very large district. ”
A NewsOK story “Charter schools make their mark on OKC district” by Tim Willert showed that in a recent study, charter schools in Oklahoma are outperforming traditional public schools academically.
“The district received an F from the State Education Department because of its poor overall showing – 39 Fs, 20 Ds, 14 Cs, 10 Bs and 10 As — and is looking for answers,” Willert said in the article.
The reason why some charter schools are succeeding is because of its generally small teacher-to-student ratios and commitment by students, parents and teachers to perform well.
“Charter schools can use methods that are maybe a little different from traditional public schools,” Associate Professor for Education Darin Martin said. “They can have the students in school longer, but also a lot of charter schools, the parents and the students agree by signing a contract between them and the school, knowing that they are going to follow these rules of the charter schools, otherwise they could lose the privilege of going there.”
According to senior Cody Summerville, charter schools and traditional public schools are on the same playing field.
“Most people think charter schools are really successful,” Summerville said. “However, there is a skewed picture to how successful charter schools really are. A recent study with Stanford University proved that charter schools are no more successful than public schools.”
Summerville said the way the schools are being compared could add to this alleged illusion.
“Traditional public schools are getting a bad rap because it looks like they are not doing anything, but really that is not the case,” Summerville said. “Charter schools and traditional public schools are often compared as apples to apples, when they should be compared as oranges to apples because they are so different.”
The school’s board of directors named Joe Pierce, who has more than 30 years of education experience, as the head of the school.
Miller encouraged graduating students from Oklahoma Christian’s School of Education to consider applying to be part of the new school faculty.
For Summerville, applying for a position with any charter school is out of the question.
“John Rex Charter Elementary is hiring for its teachers, but I would never teach anywhere besides the traditional public schools,” Summerville said. “There have been several cases where charter schools have opened, what seems like overnight, and have not paid their teachers.”
The new school has not begun offering classes to its kindergarten to sixth-grade students yet.
“I am excited about the new John Rex Charter School,” Martin said. “I do think there are going to be some really good things coming out of that school. I don’t mind charter schools, I like that they are trying new things like connecting with students and families and holding people accountable and trying effective methods, but I also like that they are monitored, and if they are not doing a good job they can lose their privilege to operate.”
In order for charter and traditional public schools to succeed, families, students and teachers need to collaborate.
“I think charter schools are tailored toward parental involvement,” Miller said. “Also when schools are smaller, and when teachers and parents know how to connect, then education would improve.”
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