Mayor article from today's press

GR Can't Afford to Snub Families, Mayor says

Wednesday, September 19, 2007By Dave Murray The Grand Rapids Press
GRAND RAPIDS -- Mayor George Heartwell and leaders from neighborhood and business organizations are bristling at comments from some Grand Rapids Board of Education members, who said people should move to the suburbs if they want to enroll their children outside the district.

And charter school leaders strongly dispute comments by one school board member who said "blatant racism" drives parents to seek out such schools.

Charter schools and school choice plans might take students -- and their state aid -- out of Grand Rapids Public Schools classrooms, but some leaders say these education options keep middle class families living in the city.

"I know the day will come that the Grand Rapids Public Schools will be the schools of choice for parents in the suburban districts," Heartwell said Tuesday. "But until then, I'm disturbed by some of the attitudes from these board members."

Heartwell said keeping families in the city is "critical" to the success of Grand Rapids.

"We can't afford to lose any more families to the suburbs," he said. "These families that could leave but decide to continue living in the city contribute to the tax base that helps support the city schools. And without that tax base, the schools will further deteriorate."

Heartwell's wife, Susan, is executive director of the Grand Rapids Student Advancement Foundation, which raises money to support the district.

The comments came at Monday's school board meeting as Superintendent Bernard Taylor discussed a recent session with charter school parents who live in the city and believe Taylor is making it difficult for them to transfer their children to suburban high schools.

Board Vice President Lisa Hinkel and member Arnie Smithalexander said parents do have school choice -- they are free to move to those suburban districts.

Hinkel said the parents also could pay tuition to a private or parochial school or lobby for-profit companies running charter schools to open a high school. Smithalexander said she believes the parents' actions are "blatant racism," and that the parents don't want to send their children to school with minority students, which make up about 75 percent of the city school district.

Board member Jim Rinck said Tuesday he thinks Hinkel and Smithalexander wanted to show support for their superintendent "and perhaps got a little too animated for their own good."

"You don't ever tell people you disagree with to leave the city," Rinck said. "I understand the frustrations on both sides. But I've always felt we get a bad rap from some of these people who clearly have never visited any of our high schools. They make it sound like the schools are crawling with gangs and violence when in fact that is not true."

But people working with businesses and with neighborhood groups said the choice plans and charter schools allow people to continue living in the city even if they, for whatever reason, don't like the city schools.

"We can't have people leaving the city for any reason," said Jeanne Englehart, president of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce. "We have people who live by choice in Grand Rapids, and we want them to live here in the core city so we can be able to continue with the rejuvenation of our downtown."

Englehart said a strong central city is needed to attract and retain people to the entire region.

Neighborhood activists said they believe the city schools are improving, and people will be less likely to send their children to charter schools or use the choice plan as they see gains.

"We see the schools in our area in the best possible way, and that's why people should stay in Grand Rapids," said Jeff Winston, vice president of the Creston Neighborhood Association. "Then they can stay and vote off a couple ineffective school board members."

Charter school leaders said they don't believe racism prompts parents to seek their schools. A spokeswoman said about half of the students enrolled in National Heritage Academies schools are minorities.

Charter school parents, like others, want their children to receive a quality education in a safe environment, said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Charter School Academies.

"The message is clear, and it has nothing to do with race," he said. "Provide a quality education and the people will come."

Send e-mail to the author: dmurray@grpress.com