Can Charter Schools Operate in Virginia?

The policy of permitting states to create charter schools for its students is gaining a great deal of momentum in academic circles. In fact, at last count, 44 states, including Virginia, have opened the door to allow charter schools to operate within their boundaries. Virginia has only opened four charter schools to date, enrolling a mere 240 students. By comparison, neighboring North Carolina has opened almost 100 such institutions.

The idea behind charter schools started as a response to dissatisfaction with the current public school system. There was a school of thought that the public schools were failing for a number of reasons, including, but not limited to, scarcity of money, under qualified teachers and archaic teaching methods. As concerned parents and officials of local jurisdictions began to analyze the problem, many questions surfaced. Why should a child have to go to a failing school just because of his/her geographic location? What can be done to close the achievement gap between white students and minority students? If the existing school system is failing, can we do better? From these questions were borne the outline of the charter school policy.

Generally, there was a feeling of helplessness as stakeholders feel separated from the process and felt like the legislative system in place would not be able to improve public education to a level of their liking. Not being able to find a suitable alternative policy, these stakeholders acted on the feeling that they needed to take matters into their own hands.

Some general definitions of charter schools include the following:

·         Elementary/secondary schools that receive public money without having to adhere to public school rules and regulations

·         An alternative to other public schools, but without the ability to charge tuition

·         Magnet schools, or schools that provide a specialized curriculum in a field, whether it is arts, science or math.

For the most part, charter schools are more prominent in urban school districts, such as Chicago and Washington, D.C. Some schools thrive, while others are struggling. New York City's Promise Academy is an example of a charter school enjoying tremendous success by virtually erasing its achievement gap between black and white students.

However, the success of charter schools is a debatable topic, and this is probably the reason why the state of Virginia has been slow to push this policy of offering alternative education to students and parents who are unsatisfied with the state of their neighborhood school.

To date, Governor Bob McDonnell has seized the opportunity. He is planning to loosen restrictions on new charter schools. Currently, the local school boards must approve potential new charter schools. Under McDonnell's plan, charter school organizers may appeal to the Virginia Board of Education in the event of being rejected at the local level. This may help to resolve conflict at the lower level, as local school boards tend to resist competition, especially in the form of a charter school. In cases where a school division has one or more failing schools, the request for a charter school could be made directly to the state. While realizing that the charter school is not the only cure-all, the Republican nominee for governor has been noted in a recent Virginian Pilot-Online editorial as at least putting considerable thought to the issue and developing a solution to the education problem, using charter schools as a viable alternative while keeping an eye on the 72 failing schools in the Old Dominion.

“No Need For Sight If You Have a Vision.”

The new Trackside magazine is out, and I think this will be the one to put us on the map. The whole experience has been an eye opener, and having the opportunity to "meet" and interview some of the biggest names from track's past and present has been so much fun.

My first interview for this issue was with Lex Gillette. Lex is a fascinating person, a man, who despite not being able to see, sprints and jumps as a Paralympian. In fact, he has long jumped over 22 feet, and there is visual evidence of this (see right). There is a rumor that he was also a waiter at a high-end restaurant in the past, but I didn't quite have the nerve to ask if this was true.

TrackSide is now available for free, online at www.trackside2.tracknation.com.

Lex Gillette lives by this motto. Blind since the age of eight, he grew to discover the one bit of information that the doctors failed to relay in their prognosis twenty years ago.

“They never told me that I could see my potential through Paralympic sport,” wrote the long jump world record holder in his category.

Gillette discovered jumping innocently enough.

“I was in high school, and we were taking the Presidential Fitness test for gym class. One of the categories was the standing broad jump. And I was one of the best (in the class).

Brian Whitmer took Gillette to the next level. Whitmer, a visual impairment specialist at Athens Drive HS in Gillette’s hometown of Raleigh, NC, was the first to hone Gillette’s jumping talents. The youngster had been athletic, playing basketball and riding his bicycle with mother Verdina Gillette-Simms, herself legally blind because of complications from glaucoma.

But there was something different about sprinting down a runway at full speed and hurtling through the air into an abyss of the unknown.

“He (Whitmer) was the first person to say we could take it (jumping) from standing to running. We went to a sports camp in Michigan during my sophomore year. It was specifically for the visually impaired. There was a long jump competition and I won. But it was frightening. I’m realistic and the idea of running (at full speed) and jumping was scary and crazy.”

Whitmer, who is also visually impaired, taught Gillette the basics of the event.

“A lot of it (the training) is trust. We developed a system. He would clap and yell. My job was to run toward the noise. It started with a five step approach.”

Indeed, Gillette ended up with an array of bumps and bruises from approach missteps. But he remained steadfast in his desire to succeed at track, and by his junior year had joined the squad at Athens Drive, working his way to team co-captain as a senior.

Gillette’s next step was East Carolina University in nearby Greenville.  He had initial talks with then-ECU coach Bill Carson about joining the Pirate team, but ended up realizing he would be continuing his training alone.

One of his biggest decisions came after a phone call from the United States Olympic Committee.

(continued on page 20 at TrackSide Magazine) --

Back to the Pool - Hampton Roads Water Polo

For those who have watched a water polo game on television or in person, it may seem like an incredible athletic feat to swim back and forth in a pool while maintaining enough agility to catch, aim and throw a ball into a tiny net guarded by a goalie.

Indeed, water polo is tough. In 2011, the Bleacher Report conducted a ranking to determine the world’s toughest sport. In the article, each sport was measured on six attributes - speed, endurance, strength, agility, skill level and physicality. In their findings, water polo was deemed to be the toughest, outpointing football, hockey, rugby and soccer.

In the article, the writer noted the “kicking and grabbing which goes on under the surface, with all sorts of sly blows underwater.” To put it in physical terms, the author recommended going to the local pool and treading water for 30 minutes straight, then trying to imagine playing a competitive game at the same time.”

Fortunately, there are enough able bodied swimmers in the Tidewater region to field a competitive local water polo team. The Hampton Roads Water Polo club was founded in 2009 and is headed by Marcio Soza. The club practices every Thursday night from 8:15-9:30 at the Norfolk Academy pool. According to Soza, his Hampton Roads team is the only one in the region.

Says Soza, “Our main objective is to help grow the sport of water polo in the Hampton Roads area and to provide our military members an avenue to enjoy the sport of water polo. Our players come from all of the Hampton Roads cities.”

Ironically, it is the military aspect of water polo which draws members, but also keeps the team roster in a state of transiency. On last year’s squad, three local players, Chris Flores and Patrick Killingsworth from Hampton, and Matt Creelman from Yorktown were on the roster. However, Killingsworth, on active duty with the Air Force, was transferred to California, while Creelman has taken a job overseas.

But Flores has been there through the changes, starting with HRWP when it began four years ago, but involved with the movement for much longer.

“I have been trying to build water polo with Marcio (Soza) for over a decade,” said the former Penn State player. In spite of the fluctuating lineups of the past, Flores is confident with the structure of this year’s team. “The important thing for us is to always have a strong core to provide leadership and continuity and we have that.”

The league season begins this weekend with a league tournament in Washington D.C., but the club did finish in second place at the third annual Virginia State Championship Tournament, held in the last weekend of February at the NOVA Aquatics Center in Richmond. The event was hosted by the Richmond Water Polo Club and featured eight collegiate (Virginia, William and Mary, VMI and James Madison) and masters co-ed teams. The HRWP squad went undefeated in the round-robin format, winning its ‘B’ bracket and reaching the championship game, in which they narrowly lost to a heavily favored Northern Virginia team.

The team competes in the South Atlantic Coast Water Polo league, and includes the Richmond and D.C. teams, as well as contingents from Charlotte, Raleigh, Atlanta and Baltimore, among others. People who are interested in participating are encouraged to attend a team practice. No experience is necessary, but Soza warns that being a strong swimmer is highly recommended. There is a club membership fee of $25 per month or $10 per visit, plus American Water Polo registration.

The Hampton Roads Water Polo website can be found at www.hamptonroadswaterpolo.com.

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High School Rugby Thrives on Peninsula

As part of the Hampton Roads Conference (HRC), high school rugby is alive and well in Newport News and Hampton. Now in its sixth year, the league, which is not sponsored by either city’s athletic department or the Virginia High School League, has grown into part of Rugby Virginia, which bills itself as the primary development vehicle for youth and high school rugby within the state of Virginia. Currently, there are six boys and three girls teams on the Peninsula competing for the right to represent the HRC against two of the twelve teams playing in the North League, which represents teams from as far west as Winchester, Culpeper, Loudoun and Fairfax counties, as well as the city of Alexandria.

At the end of March, the Hampton teams have the edge in both leagues, with the Hampton High squads leading both the boys (2-0-1) and girls (2-0) divisions.

The season starts in early march with the Tidewater Tournament which helps to determine the pre-season rankings. A round-robin schedule is followed by playoffs and the top two teams qualify for the state tournament. In last year’s tournament, Northern Virginia teams took both titles, as the Fairfax Police Youth Club (FPYC) won the girls crown, while the Fort Hunt Warriors nipped the Hampton Heat 8-5 to win the Virginia State Rugby boys championship.

In fact, on the Peninsula, only the Menchville boys team, currently coached by Mitch Avent, has won a state championship, with the 2009 team going undefeated.

The season concludes with a regional All-Star game. Last year’s game was held at Founders Field in Pittsburgh, PA.

This year’s Menchville team is having a harder time, starting off 0-3. But, according to forwards coach Russ Komynarets, the team record doesn’t reflect the benefits gained from playing rugby.

“We teach kids how to become champions, but more importantly how to do things the right way. It’s not always about wins and losses.”

Current Standings

Boys

Hampton     2-0-1

Bethel          2-1

Buckroe       2-1

Heritage       1-1-1

Denbigh       1-2

Menchville   0-3

Girls

Hampton      2-0

Menchville  1-1

Lady Canes 0-2

For more information, visit the state rugby site at rugbyvirginia.org.