Resident suggests KIPP schools as solution

By G. Michael Dobbs

Managing Editor

SPRINGFIELD City resident Lois Smith thinks she has found an answer to the city's large drop-out rate. She would like the Finance Control Board to spend $80 to buy a video of a news clip from ABC News that she believes could change the course of Springfield schools.

If the board members don't want to allocate the money, the retiree, who lives on a fixed income, said she would do it so herself.

Smith was one of the local residents who spoke at the recent meeting of the Ad Hoc Committee of the School Committee and City Council. She read a prepared statement that included, "Here is what we know. Springfield demographics are not the reason for our [school] failures. An $80 ABC news clip of a New Orleans KIPP school is available to this committee. I know where to purchase this $80 item. Maybe out of the $300 million budget we can pay for this documented success in KIPP schools. It clearly shows how a city such as Springfield can turn out 80 percent or more students who pass college entrance exams. It shows how crime in our schools can be wiped out. It demonstrates that teen pregnancies can be stopped. It makes clear there is a way to activate parents. It is beautiful to see enthusiastic children who are excited about school and want to attend. In short, it abates truancy. The drop out level goes away."

KIPP stands for "Knowledge is Power Program," and is a national group of free open-enrollment college preparatory schools. There are currently 57 KIPP schools in 17 states. The only Massachusetts KIPP school is KIPP Academy Lynn, a fifth through eighth grade school.

Steve Mancini, the public relations officer for KIPP, explained to Reminder Publications that two teachers, Mike Feinberg and Dave Levin, founded KIPP in 1995 in Houston, Texas. Levin founded a second KIPP school in South Bronx, NY.

In 2000, Doris and Donald Fisher, co-founders of The Gap clothing stores, formed a partnership with the two teachers to bring their educational message to other areas.

Since then, communities across the country have founded KIPP charter schools. Mancini said that St. Louis, MO and Detroit, MI are the latest cities to consider adding a KIPP school.

Communities apply through a Request for Proposal (RFP) to qualify for the training of a principal for the school a yearlong process, Mancini said. The communities also have to set aside $500,000 for a three-year operational budget for the school and find a location for the school. KIPP schools fall under each state's laws governing charter schools, he added.

Not all communities qualify for the KIPP training and not all ultimately decide the KIPP approach to education is right for them, Mancini said. Applying for a KIPP school is "more about the journey than it is about the destination," he said.

"The process is helpful for a lot of people," he said.

One of the differences in the KIPP approach is much longer hours for students. Mancini said the KIPP day is from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, and classes meet on alternative Saturdays as well. The KIPP school year is extended three weeks into the summer.

Besides the longer school days, which is one of the five educational principles of KIPP, the school stresses high expectation of students and staff, results measured by tests, commitment by parents and the ability of school principals to lead the school.

KIPP schools look for the "best and brightest teachers," Mancini said. While setting up a KIPP school is a lot of work, the hardest work is working with the students and parents, he said.

KIPP will be issuing a RFP this spring for applicants and Mancini said the next KIPP schools would open in 2010.

Mancini said that Finance Control Board chairman Christopher Gabreili has visited a KIPP school and is familiar with the organization and its educational approach.

For more information on KIPP schools, log onto www.kipp.org.

Mancini said Smith would not have to buy the ABC news story; he'd be happy to send her several copies.