“You want your kids to get the best education possible,” Robyn Allen said, “but that costs. And sometimes, you have to settle for mediocre.” To explain why, she said simply, “We live in a low-income neighborhood.”
More than eight years ago, a teacher at her son’s Head Start program – St. Philip Neri in East Cleveland – began encouraging her to apply for the Cleveland Scholarship Program, which gives every family in that city an opportunity to consider private school options, regardless of income or neighborhood.
“When I first got that scholarship in the mail,” Allen said, “my heart skipped all sorts of beats. I felt like the chosen one.”
Mike McShane and others have chronicled how policies like the one that benefited Allen – and gave her the feeling that she didn’t have to settle for mediocrity – expanded greatly in 2020-2021. And while Allen is just one example of the kind of parent who uses school choice programs, they are a special kind of public policy because they foster personalization.
Personalizing education in historically de-personalized communities
“The scholarship lets him know that he is important,” Allen said. Her son Demario, now in eighth grade, attends St. Thomas Aquinas, a Partnership School, not because the family’s address dictates it, as it would their zoned public school, but because his mother chose it with Demario, his sisters and her aspirations for them in mind. “I hope that Demario can be the best he can be, as professional as he can be. I want him to know that he can push himself.”
She said she chose St. Thomas because “they make the students feel comfortable, and they also work hard.” She also sees that her children are treated as individuals by those at the school, including her second-grader Skhi’s teacher. “Ms. Pippins goes above and beyond to ensure that my daughter can be on the same level as everyone else. She provides extra work for me, because Skhi struggles with reading, and Ms. Pippins doesn’t ignore it.”
Allen adds, “I love that they teach them about religion, even though we’re not Catholic. My daughter comes home and tells me stories she learns in class. I’m blown away. I am learning from them.”
The choice of school for Skhi carries an extra significance for Allen. Skhi became hers as an 11-month-old baby, when her mother – Allen’s sister – was murdered. “I know my sister would choose St. Thomas too,” Allen said. In addition, Allen’s youngest daughter will start kindergarten at St. Thomas Aquinas next fall.
Parent-school Alignment
Demario knows that the choice of St. Thomas has as much to do with his mom as with him. “My mom cares about us and does everything she needs to do for us. When we do something wrong, we know that there will be a consequence – we need to own up to it. The teachers at St. Thomas Aquinas, they care so much too.” Teachers like Mr. (Scott) Wylie, one of his favorites, share his mom’s uncompromising expectations.
“The principal runs a tight ship,” Allen said. She shared the story of another student who was causing challenges for his classmates. When her son and others went to talk to Principal Rachael Dengler about it, “She took care of it right away,” Allen said, adding, “I expect my son to feel comfortable talking to the principal, because I’m not there. Then they call and fill me in, and I appreciate that a lot. Ms. Dengler really cares about all the students.”
Allen has been able to achieve what many parents are craving this year: obtaining an education for her children that aligns with her priorities.
A new normal
The family is facing another school choice this year: where Demario will go to high school. He likes St. Thomas Aquinas so much that he told his mom he wishes the school continued through 12th grade. Still, they are both excited about what is to come, although that choice comes with its own new dilemmas. Some advocates in his life hope Demario goes to Benedictine High School, while his mother is leaning toward St. Martin de Porres. One thing is clear, however: his teachers and Demario share the same aspiration Allen has had for her son since Head Start: “He will be the first one in our family going to college.”
When Partnership Schools officials told Allen that parents at the seven Partnership Schools in New York do not have access to the same kind of scholarships she does, and are therefore more constrained in the choices they can make for their children, she was surprised. “Really? They don’t?” she said.
The scholarship program in Cleveland has existed since 1997, and Allen’s reaction points to another sign of the progress made by policy decisions like tax credit scholarships and education spending accounts as they mature.
Allen, a hardworking mother from Cleveland’s East Side, thinks that having a full range of school choices is normal for all parents – even in the neighborhood where she lives. Because of that, she finds it hard to believe that those choices don’t exist for parents in New York and other cities.
Wealthy families have long had many options of where to send their children to school. The recent National School Choice Week, observed Jan. 23-29, celebrated the power of parents to make the kinds of decisions for their children that Allen has done.
This story is adapted from a piece provided by Partnership Schools for National School Choice Week 2022.