Everyone seems to be thrilled that Detroit’s Catherine Ferguson Academy for pregnant and parenting teens avoided closure today by announcing plans to be reborn as a charter school. I’d like to be optimistic, but I find it hard to believe that a for-profit charter school would be able to provide the same level of service for its students, especially when this new entity, according to press reports, will have $2 million less to work with. The following clip comes from the Detroit Free Press:
…”We have found a solution,” said Roy Roberts, emergency manager for DPS. “This is a great day as far as I’m concerned for everyone in this community.”
The operator for the schools will be Evans Solutions, the same company that operates the Blanche Kelso Bruce Academy. The schools will be authorized and overseen by Wayne Regional Educational Service Agency.
The alternative schools will no longer be part of DPS, but as charter schools they will be open to any student who wants to attend.
Roberts said DPS will save about $2 million by chartering Ferguson.
Only half of teen mothers have a high school diploma by age 22, according to the National Women’s Law Center. But at Ferguson Academy, 90% of students graduate, and for the past nine years, every graduate has been accepted to a two- or four-year college, according to DPS.
At Ferguson, students tend to an award-winning urban garden located on a farm right in the middle of a neighborhood. There’s a horse, rabbits, chickens and a barn powered by a windmill and solar panels on the roof…
For a first hand account of today’s protest-turned-celebration, including photos of movie-star Danny Glover, I’d encourage you to check out my friend Pete’s blog.
