The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.

Dr. Laurie Robertson-Lorant is an English department adjunct at Bridgewater State University.

On Monday, the New Bedford School Committee and Mayor Jon Mitchell will decide whether to allow two brilliant "best practices" Innovation School proposals to advance to the next stage, or abort them. Killing these proposals before they even reach the cradle would demonstrate New Bedford's complete lack of vision and inability to move forward by beginning to reshape its failing schools, which will almost certainly trigger a state takeover of the city's school system that will weaken the union and eliminate many jobs.

Logic at public hearings was sorely lacking on the opposing side. Several people accused the Innovation Schools of bringing back segregation and "creating haves and have-nots." Then they told the Spanish-speaking families to establish their own separate schools — a point they underscored by pointing out that the city already has a number of small, autonomous bilingual schools that serve children from various ethnic groups. Another person said the Innovation Schools would skim the best students into smaller classes, and two, that students would be admitted to the new schools by lottery. The argument that Innovation Schools will create "haves and have-nots" didn't get very far because, as everyone knows, there are "haves and have-nots" in the schools right now.


At no time did the opposition raise substantive objections to the actual content of the Innovation School proposals themselves — either because they hadn't actually read them, or because they have no flaws in them. One person objected to having separate schools in one building and having to share space and woefully inadequate supplies with the new schools.

One of the most bizarre features of the hearings was the way teachers who opposed the schools expressed resentment against the Renaissance School on the grounds that they themselves had been asking for more music, art and gym classes and had been ignored or told there was not money for those programs. Allowing the Renaissance and Esperanza schools to go forward will prove the value of their curricula and hasten the adoption of similar programs throughout the entire school system to benefit every single child, but proponents and opponents must work together to implement these programs and cooperate to bring about their success.

Whatever happens Monday evening, everyone who cares about the welfare of the children and the future success of the city will have to find a way to work together, or the city's failure to educate all of its children well will be compounded. The accusations, name-calling, threats and redundant emotional appeals voiced by the opposition during the two recent public hearings had no pedagogical weight and undermined the credibility of the opposition. Any legitimate questions or objections are meant to be answered in the next phase of the process.

The situation that exists at the moment is tragic. The bitter divisions exposed by the hearings benefit no one — least of all the children. However the committee votes on Monday, the wounds will have to heal for the city to move forward. If opponents of the proposed schools have legitimate criticisms and concerns about safety, custodial issues, physical space, shared facilities and equal access to superior classes, they should be made in good faith and addressed in good faith by a coalition of people who are willing to listen to each other and work together to find common ground and cultivate it.

There is abundant evidence that students who attend dual language immersion schools and schools whose curriculum is based on integrated, holistic arts and physical education (especially outdoor education) not only develop superior intellects and imaginations, but achieve better emotional health as well. The best students and best citizens at the private school where I taught for 21 years were the musicians, and the best student in my African-American Literature I class at Bridgewater State University last spring was a bilingual undergraduate from the University of Beijing. Her English vocabulary was much larger than the vocabularies of my American students, and her critical thinking skills, oral and written, were far more advanced. Why? Because Chinese children begin learning English in the third grade and grow up bilingual, at the very least.

As a member of the Education Department at UMass Dartmouth for five years, I supervised and mentored student teachers in dozens of SouthCoast public schools, including some in New Bedford, and I wholeheartedly support the Esperanza School of Language and Culture and the Renaissance Community School for the Arts. They will be transformative additions to the educational and cultural landscape of the city whose motto is "Lucem diffundo" — "I spread the light."

I urge the mayor and the School Committee to live up to this motto by supporting these exciting Innovation Schools.