RALEIGH — An application by a Pembroke-based charter school was rejected this week by the North Carolina Charter School Advisory Board, but its backers say they will regroup and consider their options.
Old Main STREAM Charter School, which had hoped to open in 2020 with 200 students in kindergarten through fourth, was denied after the advisory board had given the school its approval in an earlier vote.
“The advisory board approved our application and sent it to the State Board of Education for final approval,” said Brenda Deese, school spokesperson. “The state board sent it back to the advisory board, and apparently there was a lot of conversation.”
Advisory board members appeared to be concerned about the school’s use of “red pedagogy,” an approach that focuses on American Indian issues in its interpretation of history, according to an article in the Raleigh News and Observer. It is based on a book titled “Red Pedagogy: Native American Social and Political Thought,” which is critical of the historic treatment of American Indians.
“We planned a place-based curriculum, and they wanted us to rewrite our application with red pedagogy taken out,” Deese said.
The curriculum would be relevant to American Indians of this region, she said.
“The school would be open to all applicants,” Deese said.
There was also a concern about the Public Schools of Robeson County’s falling enrollment and financial difficulties, Deese said.
Olivia Oxendine represents the southeast region on the State Board of Education and has consulted with PSRC on it finances. Oxendine, a professor at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke professor, was not available for a comment Wednesday.
The charter school application listed as directors Tiffany Locklear, Rose Marie Lowry-Townsend, Lemark Harris, Dr. Joseph Roberts, and Denise Hunt. Deese said they have negotiated space at the Boys and Girls Home in Pembroke.
The school plans to focus on STEM education, or Science, Technology, Engineering and Math, with the addition of reading and arts, hence the name Old Main STREAM Charter School. The directors plan to build a school serving kindergarten through eighth grade with 440 students within five years.
“People are looking for choice and rigor in education,” said Deese, who retired from a career in public education. “There are too many barriers to success, and we believe this is an opportunity for children and parents in Robeson County.”
One Charter School advisory board member was particularly outspoken in objecting to the red pedagogy aspect the the school’s curriculum, according to the New and Observer.
“I did not find one thing in the book that talked about the greatness of America,” Lindalyn Kakadelis said. “Now let me make it perfectly clear: America has sins. There are things I wish we had never done, slavery included.
“(These are) bad marks on our country. But we learned from them and we’re changed, and we’re not what we used to be. I’ve got to say that everything I found was divisive instead of bringing unity.”
Deese said there is “an exceptional need for a charter school in the midst of Indian Country, which is well documented by local and state data.”
“Native students demonstrate below proficient in tested core areas on End of Grade tests, over representation in exceptional children’s programs, significant language delays, high dropout rates, under representation in academically/intellectually gifted programs and the trajectory for college and career readiness is dismal,” she said.
The state board had the last word and advised the Old Main STREAM Charter School’s leaders to revise their application.
“My desire would be that you bring back another application,” Kakadelis said. “I would stay away from red pedagogy as far as I could.”
