Pub. 1 2011-2012 Issue 1

8 W hen Eric Smith s t a r t e d h i s journey in 2000 to expand charter school offerings in Utah, he ignited a fire that continues to spread across the state today. What started as a desire to make a more challenging education available to his children, has led to more than 80 charter schools, with more than 40,000 stu- dents attending. This may just look like numbers on paper, but to each of these students, their charter school means all the difference in the world. Eric always felt held back in the tradi- tional public school curriculum. His wife Michelle grew up attending prep schools and they always wanted the same option for their seven children. After discovering Sundance Mountain School, a one-room school with only 30 students (now Sol- dier Hollow Charter School), Eric and Michelle were inspired and became very active in the efforts that created Timpa- nogos Academy. “There was a lot of work to be done to make the idea into a reality,” Eric said. At the time, the only law that existed allowed for eight charter schools as part of a pilot program that was never meant to continue and each would soon be shut down, with no plans of starting any others. Existing schools offered little support as they didn’t see the vision that Eric and Michelle had for the future of education in Utah. There was almost no infrastructure and they faced much oppo- sition from several organizations, many of which wanted charter schools to disap- pear. The Utah Charter School Associa- tion was the voice for charter schools that existed at that time and had no interest in fighting on the Hill. But Eric andMichelle saw these obstacles as challenges that they could overcome with perseverance and dedication to the goal they wouldn’t easily let go of. The Smiths, along with a small group of Cache and Utah county parents, spent many hours lobbying on Capitol Hill. They were able to get a law passed in 2002 that converted the pilot program into a full-scale charter school reality, which allowed for new schools to be created every year thereafter. That first year, Timpanogos Academy, John Hancock Charter School, and Thomas Edison Charter School were approved. “We took a democratic approach, cre- ating a school constitution,” said Eric. “It makes it very difficult to make any decision that would violate the original concepts and values of Timpanogos Academy.” The school provides a traditional, back- to-basics environment and in order to ensure a rigorous academic curriculum for students, certified teachers are hired and trained extensively in the Core Knowledge Sequence. Timpanogos Acad- emy also provides an optimal learning environment by limiting class size and requiring school uniforms. Always seeking to improve student learn- ing, Timpanogos Academy has champi- oned the concept of performance pay for teachers — something they believe is an essential step toward education reform to ensure that every student has a qualified and effective teacher. Timpanogos teachers receive a performance-based year-end bo- nus on top of a base pay, which is typically 5% above the local school district’s pay. PAVING THE WAY for Charter School Reform By Shauna Smith | newsLINK Marketing & Professional Publishing Services, LLC