Charter schools are different from traditional public schools, says Oakland Academy Charter School Founding Member Dr. Raiford Cantrell. In a recent conversation with FYN this week, Cantrell clarified the differences between traditional public schools and charter schools. He asserts the perception that the two are the same is false, a misconception forged from the recent board of education meeting On January 26th.

During the meeting, Oakland Trustee Chairman Isaac Lassiter identified that one of the main differences between charter and public schools is the use of project-based instruction. Lassiter explained that, when his son attended Oakland Elementary (before the BOE made the decision to close the school), his son was not being engaged, particularly with any project-based learning strategies. Responding to Lassiter, Superintendent Bryan Dorsey claimed that project-based learning does takes place in the Gilmer County Public School System. However, Dr. Cantrell, a former principal and superintendent, told FYN the type of teaching in Gilmer public schools, simply using projects in lessons, is not necessarily project-based instruction.

“Gilmer County teachers do use projects,”

Cantrell admits in an email to FYN,

“and some may use them more than others. Also, innovative interactive classrooms are present in varying degrees of implementation. However, we do not know of any school wide (K-8) use of Project-Based Learning, a constructivist approach, the way it is described and proposed in the charter petition for OACS students.”

Movingbeyondthepage.com describes project-based instruction this way:

“when a child is participating in a project he may be asked to develop a project plan, get feedback on his ideas, possibly conduct research in an area(s) and finally prepare to share a product with an audience.” Also, educationnorthwest.org gives several examples of project-based instruction assignments: “Develop newsletter or Web site on a specific issue relevant to the school or community (school safety, recycling, how businesses can save energy and reduce waste, etc), Conduct a survey of historical buildings, or Create a wildlife or botanical guide for a local wildlife area.”

In a recent email to FYN, Cantrell outlined the differences between the two types of schools. In addition to the use of project-based instruction, Cantrell states Oakland Academy Charter School will be different from Gilmer County Schools by teaching foreign languages and sign languages for Kindergarten through eighth grade, implementing 21st century interdisciplinary themes, and offering a science, engineering, and technology program for grades two through eight. Other differences include a 30 hour family or parent involvement each year and a waiver of the use of state adopted textbooks, which for many may be the most alluring of the list.

Per the dialogue from last week’s meeting, Dr. Cantrell emailed copies of these differences between the two types of schools to Superintendent Dorsey and the members of the board of education. The Gilmer County Board of Education must render a decision on whether to allow the charter to exist or not by February 13th, a day shy of its regularly scheduled meeting. However, the board has scheduled a called meeting for Thursday February 9th at 5:30 P.M. at the Bobcat Trail location, although no information has been given as to whether or not the board will decide on the Oakland application during the meeting