The Camden Enrollment System has a Thumb on the Scale
This post is cross-posted from the Local Knowledge Blog. Promoted by Rosi.
I’ve been playing a lot of basketball over break. As a former D1 basketball player, that comes with some reflection about my own competitive nature. But it’s also come with some curiosity about how this “competition” narrative really works within our Camden education system. With the new Camden Enrollment System opening up, the district is facing a distinct challenge. It’s created a new system (relatively – similar to universal enrollment that emphasizes competition in New Orleans or Newark) that pits schools against one another in the attempt to attract students. The stakes are high, because there are obviously more schools and seats approved than will be needed, meaning down the line those schools that struggle to attract students will close. In the midst of this, the District has a difficult choice to make. Is it an advocate and representative for the Camden School District schools which are engaged in this competition? Or is it a referee, leaving these schools to compete on their own? And if it’s a referee, can it keep its thumb off the scale?
I’ve been watching this competition up close. As a Camden resident, I’m routinely getting fliers offering open houses from charter schools (none from our traditional public schools — I’ll come back to that). My social media accounts are targets for ads of the same, with some offering small gift cards for attendance (but none from the School District, or individual district schools).
To the District’s credit, they’ve acknowledged that district schools are at a disadvantage when it comes to this competition and allocated a small amount of money for schools to create a recruitment video and increase social media presence. I expected to hear some frustration at this, but at one school I asked I heard excitement — they felt for so long they were unable to trumpet their accomplishments that they appreciated these resources to do so, even if they felt disappointment that the district wasn’t standing up for them directly and ultimately feel the district will promote an expansion of charters and Renaissance schools.
Therein lie the bigger, systematic questions about the District’s role in a competitive enrollment system. It’s clear from the public relations of schools in the charter and Renaissance sector that their entire organizations are built to promote and support their product. It’s equally clear that this is not what the Camden School District does with district schools. It is impossible to imagine a charter management organization standing up at a public meeting and promoting that a renaissance school be turned over to the district. But last spring the Camden School District had no problem standing up and advising parents that the best option was to convert Camden District Schools into Renaissance Schools.
This is at the heart of the “false competition” between schools in Camden. On one side are charters which advocate, and sometimes exaggerate, their prowess. They are fierce about protecting their schools and expanding their models. The Camden School District is not. The higher level district staff largely comes from the reform community which is skeptical of traditional public schools. Teachers, principals and administrators at schools don’t have an infrastructure behind them to promote their accomplishments and attract students. Instead, they have an organization behind them controlled by a state office that prefers charters and Renaissance schools to traditional public schools. In another universe, one that The Camden Enrollment System has a Thumb on the Scale | Blue Jersey:
