BASIS Charter School

BASIS Charter Reflection

While the documentary Two Million Minutes as well as BASIS mission statement makes it very clear that its is no secret that American students are lagging further and further behind their international peers I also question the radical analysis of education that BASIS engages in. I understand that BASIS has a “goal of offering best education in the United States, the Blocks combined the depth and rigor of the European and Asian college prep schools with the expansiveness of the American curriculum and the openness of the American classroom” but their plan has a black hole embedded within it.

While BASIS Tucson offers the type of education students receive in other industrialized countries and the type of education Americans will need to compete in the global economy their students population is not representative of the local community that Arizona serves. Within the short clips of the documentary that we were exposed to the lack of diversity within BASIS was very apparent. BASIS did not have a sample of students who we know and identify as ELD students nor did they mention serving students with special needs. As a charter school they can exercise this right within their school walls but as a teacher in an inner city public school as well as a product of an inner city public education it is hard for me to relate to what BASIS is doing. I can only imagine teaching what I love to teach now to a sample of students who want to be in class, have no learning or language disabilities, and are there to strive for greatness. This is not the norm currently in my school and while BASIS is having tremendous success with the public education that they provide I do not see how that education can penetrate the system we currently have in the United States.

BASIS may claim that that they have assembled a stellar faculty that is devoted to teaching at “world standards” and who hold both their students and themselves to very high levels of accountability but the faculty they have assembled is well versed in their content area and how to deliver that content to highly motivated general education students. From what we can tell these faculty members are not equipped to serve a marginalized group of students with learning disabilities and/or special needs that are currently sitting in my classroom and many others throughout our state everyday.

I do see the advantages and pros of BASIS, their curriculum, faculty and mission statement. I also acknowledge the amazing feats that they are pulling off everyday in a state that is 48th in the nation for education. Asides from all of these amazing accolades I can still personally say that I would not choose to teach at BASIS nor would I choose to send my student to BASIS. I appreciate the diversity of students, opportunities and extra curricular activities that the public education system can provide students and knowing that I was able to make it through that system I believe that others can successfully make it through as well.