Polis: Public school choice is an asset to improve all schools

Polis: Public school choice is an asset to improve all schools

By Jared Polis Guest Commentary The Denver Post 

Every child has his or her own unique learning needs. While some students prefer to read books, others favor hands-on learning experiences or need help to learn English in addition to their first language. Moreover, school quality tends to vary by neighborhood, leaving too many low-income students without any high-quality school options.

In Colorado, open enrollment within and across districts allows parents the opportunity to find a school that fits their child's learning style and their family's needs. Whether parents choose a traditional, magnet, or public charter school, school choice can help improve outcomes for all students.

Denver Public Schools serves as a good example of a strong school choice system. Under the strong leadership of Superintendent Tom Boasberg, DPS has established a separate office to guide reform, encouraged the growth and oversight of high-performing public charter schools, and instituted a school performance framework to improve transparency and help parents make strong, informed choices. Under this system, DPS has seen consistent academic growth from its students, many of whom come from low-income households.

Public charter schools play an important role in improving choice and increasing the supply of high-quality schools. I am proud that the Denver area is home to many high-performing charter school networks, such as STRIVE Prep, KIPP, and Denver School of Science and Technology. These schools are demonstrating by offering diverse curricula and learning strategies to suit students' and family's needs that all students can succeed in school.

During National School Choice Week, it is important to recognize that public school choice is an asset to improve all public schools. Public school choice encourages excellence, while recognizing that students have different learning needs and can thrive in different environments. Public school choice is particularly important for students in schools that have been failing families for generations. By shining a spotlight on school performance and encouraging school choice, we can ensure that generations of students are not trapped in a cycle of poverty.

I use my experience as the founder of two innovative public charter school systems, New America Schools and Academy for Urban Learning, to increase opportunities for public school choice at the federal level. Last year, I introduced the All Students Achieving Through Reform (All-STAR) Act, which would improve and modernize the Charter Schools Program, the federal government's program to grow and expand high-quality public charter schools across the country. I also helped pass a bipartisan amendment when the House of Representatives passed HR 5, the Student Success Act, to encourage public charter schools to do more outreach to low-income communities. Finally, I passed an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act to ensure that students who attend online or blended learning schools, or are homeschooled, are treated the same when it comes to enlisting in the military.

While the Charter Schools Program plays an important role in seeding the growth and encouraging expansion of high-performing public charter schools, more than 1 million students remain trapped on public charter school wait lists — unable to attend the schools of their dreams. This is completely unacceptable. We must expand our efforts to seed the growth of high-performing public charter schools to ensure that all families have the right to choose the right school for their children.

In addition to encouraging the growth of public charter schools, we must ensure that there is sufficient oversight so that public charter schools can fulfill their promise as "laboratories of innovation." My All-STAR Act would improve public charter school authorizing efforts across the country so that high-quality public charter schools are able to expand and replicate, and changes are made in those that are not serving students.

I am proud that Colorado has become a model for public school choice in our country. This School Choice Week, it is important to recognize our efforts, while also acknowledging that we must continue the fight to strengthen school choice. I will continue to work for strong education policy reforms in Congress that ensure all parents have access to public school choice.

U.S. Rep. Jared Polis is a Democrat from Boulder.

See the Op-Ed here: http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_25035462/public-school-choice-is-an-asset-improve-all#

AHS BOD Letter to Teachers & Staff

Dear Animas High School Teachers and Staff,

We wanted to reach out and first and foremost say thank you for your commitment and dedication to Animas High School. We would not be here without the hard work and passion that you exemplify in your classrooms and we recognize that you are without a doubt our most valuable asset.

Our most recent board meeting on Monday, discussions centered around the future direction of the school. Hopefully most of you heard that we unanimously agreed to reauthorize through CSI for a one year period. During this period of time we will continue to explore options for long term sustainability, including the continuation of discussions with both 9R and Mountain Middle School.

At this current time we are in the midst of discussions with 9R about opportunities for collaboration and shared services that benefit all students within the community. We are discussing a more thorough Memorandum Of Understanding that highlights shared non-curricular services in which we can begin to work together to see first-hand how this might impact our students and their educational experience at Animas High School.

With Mountain Middle School, Jake Lauer and Shane Voss have been exploring synergies between our programs and how we can work together to support both schools. There is talk of partnership and possible merger down the line and we are considering what extending our collaborations might look like for our schools and our long term vision.

We want you to know that we will systematically and thoughtfully develop processes for our school to consider both of these opportunities for collaboration and partnership. We recognize the need to have open and transparent conversation around these issues. We are very hopeful that you will be actively involved in the discussions as our teachers’ and staff members’ perspectives are extremely important to the Board. You will be included and encouraged to participate as we move forward. We are in the very initial stages of devising a plan of action for teacher and staff participation and involvement, but your input will be paramount to our process.

Finally, you may be aware that we have recommended changes to our organizational structure affecting the leadership at Animas High School. After careful evaluation, the Board has determined that the Executive Director position, while strategically important, is not financially viable at the current time. We have made the difficult decision to eliminate this role, in order to streamline our operations

and ensure our continued financial viability. We have made provisions to ease the transition of the Executive Director’s responsibilities through the end of this fiscal year. Please note that this change will not affect the day-to-day operations of the school, which continue to be in capable hands with current administration, staff and faculty.

While this decision is both necessary and lamentable, we feel is important to acknowledge the immeasurable contributions of Michael Ackerman to the establishment of Animas High School. We thank him for his years of dedicated service to the school, and for the impact his energy has had its students and teachers. We appreciate his willingness to assist the school as needed over the coming months through the expiration of his current contract.While transition can be difficult, we are thankful to have the support of all of our staff and their continued commitment and dedication to Animas High School. We recognize how fortunate we have been and continue to be and we will do our best at the board level to support and appreciate everyone dedicating their time and energy to our programs. At this time, we do not anticipate any additional changes to other faculty or staff positions at the school. We sincerely appreciate your help and support bringing stability and calmness to our students as we work through these issues. We count on you as our leaders. Please help us reassure our community to remain confident in who we are, what we do, and what we offer.

Thank you again for focusing on our students and programs at Animas High School. Your teaching and the impact that you have on our students everyday is what makes a difference. We thank you.

Sincerely, Animas High School Board

CO Teacher Union Launches Suit

Updated - Colorado’s largest teachers union Wednesday launched a two- pronged attack on part of the state educator effectiveness law, filing both a lawsuit and serving notice of a proposed bill in the legislature.

At issue is the mutual consent section of Senate Bill 10-191, which requires both principal and teacher agreement for placement of a teacher in a school. The Denver Classroom Teachers Association and its statewide parent, the Colorado Education Association, claim the Denver Public Schools have misused the law by essentially firing teachers without due process.

The suit was filed Wednesday by five former Denver teachers and the DCTA. The filing, which had been expected for months, came in Denver District Court and names DPS and the State Board of Education as defendants. (The board is the default defendant in many suits involving education laws.

The suit was filed Wednesday by five former Denver teachers and the DCTA. The filing, which had been expected for months, came in Denver District Court and names DPS and the State Board of Education as defendants. (The board is the default defendant in many suits involving education laws.)

Later in the day during a news conference at CEA headquarters, union leaders and Sen. Nancy Todd, D-Aurora, announced plans to file a bill that would prohibit districts from putting teachers on unpaid leave if they can’t be placed in schools, but it wouldn’t repeal the full mutual consent portion of state law. The bill will be sponsored in the House by Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton.“We have fought the good fight with the Denver Public Schools and avoided going to the courts and the legislature,” said Kerrie Dallman, CEA president. “We had great hopes that we would not get to this point,” said Amie Baca-Oehlert, CEA vice president. Since negotiations with DPS didn’t work, the lawsuit and the proposed bill are needed, the two said.

Dallman and other CEA leaders repeatedly stressed that the two unions have no objections to the evaluation portions of SB 10-213. “This really is a surgical lawsuit,” she said. (Dallman and Oehlert both are members of the State Council for Educator Effectiveness, the advisory group that drew up recommendations for implementation of the law.

Sen. Johnston, others react to suit

Sen. Mike Johnston, author of SB 14-191, later in the day defended current mutual consent provisions and said of DPS, “I haven’t seen any evidence to see they are using it incorrectly.” He said he’d talked with CEA last summer about possible tweaks to the law but that no agreement was reached.

The Denver Democrat also agreed that the lawsuit “will change nothing about the evaluation process. ... I don’t think this is going to be a big distraction.”

Johnston could end up being the deciding vote on the Salazar-Todd bill. If that measure passes the House and reaches the Senate floor, it’s unlikely any of the Senate’s 17 Republicans would vote for it. If Johnston also votes no, that would provide an 18-vote majority to kill the bill in the 35-member Senate.

A statement from the Department of Education sounded the same note, saying, “The filing of this lawsuit does not impact the ongoing work of schools and districts to implement the law.”

Separately, the SBE released a statement saying it was “deeply disappointed” with the lawsuit and “will defend this lawsuit to the fullest extent of the law.”

DPS Superintendent Tom Boasberg defended SB 10-191′s current provisions, saying, “The practice of forced placement is wrong. It is wrong for our students, wrong for our teachers and wrong for our schools. It is particularly harmful because it disproportionately impacts our highest-poverty schools where our kids have the greatest need for excellent teachers.”

A coalition of business and education reform groups criticized the lawsuit. The suit “would turn back the clock for Colorado teachers and students,” said a news release from the Great Teachers and Leaders Law Coalition.

Senate Minority Leader Bill Cadman, R-Colorado Springs, commented, “This lawsuit should outrage every student, every parent, and every taxpayer in this state. The same union that tried to take another billion dollars from Colorado citizens with Amendment 66, is now trying to create a protected class of substandard workers.”

Inside the lawsuit

The lawsuit argues that the mutual-consent provisions of the law and DPS’ actions are unconstitutional because they violate the state constitution’s ban on “impairment of contracts” and state laws on the firing of teachers. The suit also alleges that the district has violated teachers’ due-process rights.

The suit argues that non-probationary teachers have “a constitutionally protected property interest in ... continued employment” that cannot lawfully be terminated without providing the procedural due process guaranteed by” the state constitution.

The class-action aspect of the suit seeks to include several different types of Colorado teachers, primarily those who held non-probationary status before May 20, 2010, when the mutual-consent provision went into effect.

The suit seeks a court ban on use of the mutual-consent provision for various kinds of non- probationay teachers and reinstatement and back pay for teachers who lost their jobs.

Based on the track record of prior public-policy lawsuits in Colorado, this case could take years to resolve if it goes up through the appeals process.

CEA lawyer Brad Bartels said, “I would be lying if I said that it would be short.” He said the first legal fight will be over whether the DCTA has made a proper claim for relief that can be adjudicated. If the suit passes that hurdle, there likely will be long proceedings over whether the case can proceed as a class action. The lawsuit makes claims for two main classes, a group of DPS teachers and all state teachers who were non-probationary before May 2010.

CEA leaders said they would pursue the lawsuit even if the Salazar-Todd bill passes because the suit seeks damages and reinstatement for those DPS teachers.

Individual plaintiffs in the lawsuit faced a filing deadline that was due to expire last summer. But the two unions, DPS and the State Board of Education agreed late last August to extend the deadline for filing a suit until Feb. 1 – Saturday.

The five teachers listed as plaintiffs are Cynthia Masters, Michele Montoya, Mildred Kolquist, Lawrence Garcia and Paul Scena.

The Great Teachers and Leaders Law Coalition is made up of civic, business and non-profit organizations including A+ Denver, Colorado Children’s Campaign, Colorado Competitive Council, Colorado Concern, Colorado Succeeds, Democrats for Education Reform, Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce, Donnell‐Kay Foundation, Gates Family Foundation, Piton Foundation and Stand for Children. Gov. John Hickenlooper and former Govs. Bill Owens and Bill Ritter are supporting the coalition’s criticism of the lawsuit.

The major elements of SB 10-191 are requirements for annual evaluations of principals and teachers, basing 50 percent of evaluations on student academic growth and the provision that teachers who have two consecutive ineffective or partially effective ratings lose their non- probationary status (commonly called tenure).

Read article here: http://co.chalkbeat.org/2014/01/29/union-legal-challenge-to-mutual-consent-filed/

Read full text of the suit here.

CLCS- Legislative Update- 1-23-14

Charting the Capitol Legislative Updates - January 23, 2014

Session Slowly Gaining Steam We're two weeks into the 2014 legislative session, and the pace at the Capitol is beginning to pick up. The following is a brief rundown of some of the K-12 education issues currently in motion. Transparency and ADM in the Spotlight Soon after Governor Hickenlooper highlighted budget transparency and average daily membership (ADM) as two of his main education priorities during his annual State of the State address, two Republican-sponsored bills on these very topics emerged in the House. While it remains to be seen if, in a Democratic-controlled legislature, these are the proposals that will ultimately gain traction, here's a brief synopsis of each along with a link to the full bill text: House Bill 14-1139 - Would convert the current October 1st attendance count system to a method called average daily membership (ADM), which essentially bases funding off a rolling enrollment average of the previous five quarters as opposed to a single count day (click here for a short League summary of the bill's key provisions). House Bill 14-1145 - Would require the Colorado Department of Education to create a website that provides detailed revenue and spending information about school districts. The League's Policy & Advocacy Team will be monitoring these issues closely for their potential impact on charter schools. Revolving Loan and Capital Construction Bills Introduced Two bills of particular interest to charter schools also surfaced this past week. The first, Senate Bill 14-086, would create the Charter School Capital Construction Revolving Loan Program as an additional means of facilities financing for charter schools in their first four years of existence. We know how difficult it can be for new schools to access the facilities capital they need to get started, so we've been working closely with the sponsors of this bill and several of our education partners to craft a program that can help respond to this need. Click here for a one-page summary created by the League. Additionally, House Bill 14-1147 would significantly increase the annual appropriation to the Charter School Capital Construction Fund from its current $7 million level. This would represent a sizable influx of facilities funds for the vast majority of charter schools across the state. As always, the League is actively advocating for growing the Charter School Capital Construction Fund. This is an evolving issue and one which we will be sure to keep you updated on as events around it unfold. Complete Education Bill Rundown While we work to get our own, more charter-specific bill tracker up and running, our friends at Chalkbeat Colorado (formerly EdNews Colorado) have re-launched their user-friendly Education Bill Tracker. Be sure to check it out and let us know if you have questions or concerns about any of the specific bills that have been introduced thus far. Communicating with Your Legislator If you haven't already done so, there's no time like the present to reach out to your state legislators to let them know about the great work being done at your charter school. In fact, we've been meeting with a number of legislators over the past couple of months, and many have expressed interest in touring a charter school in their district. Follow this link for an easy-to-use tool to help identify your elected officials, and then contact them today to set up a meeting or invite them to your school.  And in case you're interested, the following is a list of the legislators that comprise the House and Senate Education Committees for the 2014 session:    House Education Committee Senate Education Committee Millie Hamner, Chair Cherylin Peniston Vice-Chair John Buckner Lois Court Justin Everett Rhonda Fields Chris Holbert Frank McNulty Carole Murray Brittany Pettersen Kevin Priola James Wilson Dave Young   Andy Kerr, Chair Michael Johnston, Vice-Chair Vicki Marble Scott Renfroe Mark Scheffel Nancy Todd Rachel Zenzinger    Video: Information for Legislators about Charter Schools The League is excited to unveil a new video about charter schools that we have been sharing with Colorado elected officials. Click below to watch this short video that explains why charter schools are so important. The video includes comments of support for charters from national and state legislators.  Video: For Legislators - An Introduction to Charter Schools If you have any questions about developments in the legislative session or about content in this newsletter, please contact me at dschaller@coloradoleague.org or Jessica Johnson atjmjohnson@coloradoleague.org.    Sincerely,   Dan Schaller, Director of Advocacy Colorado League of Charter Schools

Budget panel launches BEST oversight bill

See article here:http://co.chalkbeat.org/2014/01/22/budget-panel-launches-best-oversight-bill/

Budget panel launches BEST oversight bill

And construction board wrestles with priority list

by Todd Engdahl on January 22, 2014

The legislative Joint Budget Committee Wednesday unanimously approved introduction of a bill that would give the legislature greater control over part of the Building Excellent Schools Today school construction program.

The program was the subject of a somewhat critical state audit last year (see story), and that has prompted some proposed legislative tinkering.

The proposed JBC bill would affect the cash grants that BEST gives school districts for smaller projects like boiler replacements, new roofs and the like. Last year the Capital Construction Assistance board awarded $15.7 million in cash grants to 24 projects, including $9 million in state money and $6.6 million in local district matching funds.

The BEST program receives a share of mineral and leasing revenues generated by state- owned lands. Under current law, the program basically can spend whatever amount it wants

The bill approved by the JBC would remove that continuous appropriation power, allowing lawmakers to set a specific amount for cash grants in the annual state budget bill.

Meeting at the same time just a block away, construction board members discussed the bill and had some concerns.

“I’m a little uncomfortable” with the idea, said board chair Lyndon Burnett, saying he was concerned about possible legislative tinkering if the cash-grants amount was in the annual budget bill.

Jennifer Mello, lobbyist for the Department of Education, cautioned the board, “Don’t react to something until you see it on paper. ... Working off rumors is just dangerous.”

The board spent more time on another issue raised by the audit, whether the state should do a fresh inventory of school building conditions statewide. The audit faulted the program for not being able to rank buildings by health and safety deficiencies, based on an inventory done five years ago.

Program staff told the board that doing a full new inventory would cost $10.9 million, while upgrading the five-year-old building assessment would cost $2.7 million.

Board members seemed more interested in another option, hiring state inspectors (at an estimated $100,000 a year apiece) and spending $100,000 to train those employees to inspect buildings. That plan also would involve integrating building-conditions data that’s maintained by larger districts into the state database.

The board asked BEST staff to prepare more information on that option and present it at the Feb. 26 meeting. (Get more information here on the options discussed by the board.)

First ELL bill introduced

The first in what may be a series of competing bills on English language learners was introduced Wednesday. House Bill 14-1167, sponsored by Rep. Clarice Navarro, R-Pueblo, would expand programs for English language learners, including creation of a five-year period during which students would be eligible for extra funding. (Current state funding is limited to two years.) The introduced version of the bill doesn’t include a price tag nor a funding source.

Last year Navarro teamed with Rep. John Buckner, D-Aurora, on a similar bill, which died because the sponsors couldn’t find funding.

There’s talk that Buckner may introduce his own bill this year, and that Sen. Mike Johnston, D- Denver, might include such funding in a larger bill that would proposed to resurrect some features of his Senate Bill 13-213. (Read HB 14-1167 here.)

Going through the motions

The Senate State Affairs Committee on Wednesday killed Senate Bill 14-033, this year’s version of the perennial Republican proposal to grant tax credits for private school tuition, donations for private school scholarships and for home schooling costs.

Witnesses provided predictable testimony (parents testified for the bill, representatives of the Colorado Education Association and the ACLU opposed it), Democratic and Republican committee members made predictable statements and the three Democrats outvoted the two Republicans to kill the measure. State Affairs is where the majority leadership sends bills that it wants killed. (Get more details on what the bill would have done in this legislative staff analysis.)

Docket busy with charter schools and election bill- Sen Roberts Leg Update

Article published Jan 21, 2014

Docket busy with charter schools and election bill

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Besides my lawn irrigation bill I’ve already written about, I have other bills that have been introduced – and the final two will be filed by the end of this week.

One of these bills establishes a revolving loan fund for charter schools just getting started. The loan fund would start with an initial investment by the state, which would be managed by the state treasurer’s office and lent to charter schools in their first few years of operation for constructing or remodeling their physical building and facilities. I saw firsthand the need for this type of assistance with Durango’s charter school, Animas High School, when it was bursting at the seams in a shopping center before moving to its new location.

Public charter schools serve 13 percent of K-12 students in Colorado, and they are an important choice to offer students and parents in both rural and urban communities. There is much parental and community investment in these schools, yet access to financing to get their facilities up and running can be a difficult challenge. If passed into law, this revolving loan fund is expected to be self-sustaining – as the charter schools repay the loans, those repayments become available for new start-ups.

Another bill of mine seeks to allow county residents the option to vote on electing county commissioners by the district they represent only, rather than by the county as a whole. I was asked by constituents in several of my counties this fall to consider running the bill despite the same bill having been killed two years ago.

The problem as viewed by these constituents is if there is a dominant population center in a county, the commissioners who are elected to represent districts within the county may pay more attention to the voters of the population center rather than to the residents of the district where the commissioner comes from. The county commissioners’ statewide organization, Colorado Counties Inc., opposes the bill as it did in the past because the organization is unaware of any county commissioner who supports such a change.

Since I was asked by constituents from outlying areas in four of the eight counties in my district to seek the option of putting the question before the voters of interested counties, I’m trying again to get the bill passed. To be clear, the bill doesn’t change the county election process on its own but gives the county residents the authority to attempt to gather sufficient signatures to bring the question to a vote of the entire county.

I’m carrying the bill with Rep. Don Coram, R-Montrose, and with another House sponsor, a Denver Democratic state representative, which reflects the nonpartisan and urban as well as rural appeal of the bill. I’ve heard from a number of my constituents who plan to travel to Denver to testify on the bill when it’s in committee, and the strength of their desire for change is demonstrated by their willingness to make the trek, especially in the winter.

I met last week with the head of Colorado’s Department of Public Safety and his emergency communications director regarding possible options to improve the statewide communications system. A bill will be ready to introduce shortly, and I’ll be seeking my district’s feedback.

As promised to family, I end with the cheer of “Go Broncos!” – headed to the Superbowl!

Ellen Roberts represents Senate District 6 in Colorado’s General Assembly. The district encompasses Montezuma, Dolores, La Plata, Archuleta, Montrose, San Miguel, San Juan and Ouray counties. Contact Sen. Roberts by phone at (303) 866-4884, or by e-mail at ellen.roberts.senate@wstate.co.us.

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When Elite Parents Dominate Volunteers, Children Lose

January 19, 2014, 8:00 am

When Elite Parents Dominate Volunteers, Children Lose

By DEBRA MONROE

One long-ago day my mother took cupcakes to school wearing a pale yellow coat — not warm enough for the winter day, but she wanted to look nice. A classmate admired her. I was a little proud. I hoped to impress this classmate, or anyone. My dad was an alcoholic. A friend with a similar childhood calls it “impoverished.” I lacked currency: cash or social sway.

Thanks to student loans, I went to college. More improbably, I got a Ph.D. I took a job teaching at what was then a small state university in Texas. I was broke as I paid back loans. I stayed broke as I saved to adopt. When my daughter arrived, I had a modest income and the illusion of poise — more than a lot of people, and I knew it.

I lived in a village miles from the university because housing was cheaper. By the time my daughter started school, the village was turning into an Austin exurb, with people moving in after the high-tech boom. A flier came home, asking parents to volunteer because we would be helping all students. I signed up. Parents who worked for an hourly wage and chose between volunteering or earning money were unrepresented. Parents who lived in big, new houses ran the show.Volunteering meant parties, I discovered. It meant “let them eat chocolate- mousse cake.”

No one actually said that. But one volunteer insisted on chocolate-mousse cake for Valentine’s Day, even as another argued it was too unfamiliar for third- graders. At the celebration, a boy who lived in a rundown house a few miles from me said he had been excited all week about cake. His face fell when he tasted it. “Gunk in the middle,” he said.

Another volunteer set the price for a Christmas gift exchange at $25. Too high, I said. She said to spend what I could. “I can afford $25,” I said, “but some people can’t.” She smiled. “No one but you is objecting.” On the day of the party, she was gone. A widow raising a grandchild had worried that some kids would show up without gifts and feel bad, so she had bought eight spares. They were necessary, and we remaining volunteers ponied up.

Then I married and moved to Austin proper. My salary is good. My husband’s is better. But this life is so new, so stroke-of-luck, I sometimes dream I’m moving back into one of the grim apartments I rented as a student. Then I wake up in my good neighborhood, its school district drawn in an amoeba shape for diversity’s sake. A second effect is the polarized student body: students from the poorest neighborhoods, students from the richest.

When a volunteer for a middle-school party wondered what food to serve, I suggested pizza. She said: “The kids want nice food. Spring rolls?” Another mentioned sushi. “My son loves it.” The first said, “My kids don’t.” No sushi for sixth grade then. Instead, spring rolls.

A girl who was homeless — couch-surfing with her mother — spent the night with us so she could attend this party. She arrived with a too-big dress with a broken zipper. I hand-sewed her into it and snipped out stitches at the end of the night. She looked at me with wallflower timidity. She was hungry, she said. The party food was “weird.” I fed her.

When my daughter started high school, I hoped students would plan their own events and that the dynamic that makes public school democratic — a place to confront the humanity of others — would prevail. Then I received an email outlining fees for girls who made cheerleading: $2,250. My daughter made the squad. So did her friend, whose mother requested a payment plan. No dice, said the organizers. Use a credit card. A payment plan would delay the order: multiple top-of-the-line uniforms per girl. I paid up, my emotions as divided as the student body. I felt happy for my daughter, yet guilty, complicit, thinking of girls who can’t afford to succeed.

A childless friend said to me: “You need to give that committee an earful.” Yet my daughter asked me not to object, not this time. She had worked hard to make cheerleading.

The problem is bigger than that. It’s an inescapable fact that extracurricular activities, which increase student investment in school, are planned by parents who have ample time and money, who sometimes lack insight into the lives of students whose parents don’t. I tried to advocate for these students. My empathy is tangible. Where exactly do you live again? a volunteer asked when I said pizza, not sushi.

I felt the condescension behind the question. I smiled while clenching my teeth — overruled, because parents who would agree with me can’t leave work.

Debra Monroe is the author of five books, most recently the memoir “On the Outskirts of Normal.”