Charter school would address at-risk kids' needs

The Elgin Math and Science Academy initiative ("Charter school gets a no," June 24) by its very name identifies the educational needs it would serve in Elgin's beleaguered school district. The Academy would target at-risk young children.

Ten U-46 schools are being restructured because they cannot meet success standards mandated by the state. Math is a major area. Amazing then that the U-46 committee evaluating the application said the proposed charter school did not meet the needs of the district. The U-46 committee spokesman and their report stated that the district's need is to address high school dropouts and truancy.

Amazing. Common sense tells us that these types of problems accumulate over years as the result of students not having their needs met at a younger age. Help begins at the elementary level. It's much too late to fix at the high school level. The charter school's approach with expeditionary learning would infuse the students with hands-on inquiry excitement beginning at kindergarten.

So, here you have it, U-46 is refusing to accept a charter school that addresses the district's major problems of math, science and love of learning. Students who are infused with a love of learning will not become truants and drop out of high school. U-46 just can't see the forest for the trees!

Kathleen McGuire Lake in the Hills