As a former student of the Danbury Public School system and current community advocate and organizer, I am very concerned about the future of our schools. We have issues with overcrowding and racially unjust disciplinary practices. Right now, as school districts throughout the country face cuts, we must be open to any solution that will improve our schools. State Sen. Julie Kushner’s obstinate opposition to Danbury Prospect Charter School will only hurt our community.

First, I would like to state the fact that charter schools in Connecticut receive tremendous oversight from the state Board of Education and must provide rigorous evidence that they are organizationally stable, actively promoting education equity, teaching students effectively and in full legal compliance with state laws. In many ways, they have more oversight than our district schools. I believe that including Danbury Prospect with all charter schools across the nation is not only unfair, but also misleading.

Connecticut has very strict oversight procedures for charter schools. And these regulations do work. We’ve seen charter schools placed on probation and closed throughout our state, and we’ve seen charter schools like Achievement First Hartford Academy receive recognition as a state leader for promoting academic growth among high-needs students. The success of charter schools should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis, and this process requires nuanced discussion. For what it’s worth, Prospect School is widely regarded as an extremely successful organization: their students do better on math and reading and miss fewer classes than students citywide. Based on my research, I am in full support of Danbury Prospect joining Danbury’s education ecosystem.

I also have an issue with Julie Kushner claiming that since we aren’t a “fix all” for the problems in the Danbury Public School system, then we shouldn’t even be considered. The op-ed says, “Charters Aren’t a Magic Bullet.” But what is? I would like the senator to name one thing that is a magic bullet. The career Academy is not a magic bullet nor is any single policy. To find a true and lasting solution, we need a complete and comprehensive solution that contains many of these “magic bullets,” not just one.

As the president of LEAD, Latinos for Educational Advocacy in Danbury, former president of the Dominican Club of CT and an alumna of the Danbury Public School system, I have personally experienced the effects of overcrowding, and lack of minority role models. I am fighting so that future generations do not have to experience what I went through.

Sen. Kushner says that we need to think about new education options along three dimensions: equity, responsibility and transparency. Danbury Prospect Charter School would bring years of experience supporting equitable hiring and ensuring their teaching staff reflect Danbury’s increasingly brown and Black student body. If Sen. Kushner has a plan to improve racial diversity among our faculty, I would love to hear it. But right now, no one is proposing a real plan.

Moreover, how is it responsible or transparent to propose developing an entirely new school with no outside financial support and no clear timeline when Connecticut is facing the biggest budget crisis since the Great Recession? In an ideal world, our schools would not be partially supported by private donors. But we need all the support we can get, especially right now.

Responsibility requires abandoning ideological commitments and instead looking at issues practically. Prioritizing less-crowded schools, diverse teaching staff and a high-quality education is clearly viewed as the responsible decision by more than 100 community leaders and parents who attended a recent Saturday protest in Danbury; chief among their demands was the opening of Danbury Prospect.

The great irony of Sen. Kushner’s plan to replicate the West Side Academy in Danbury is that they operate an admissions lottery just like DPCS would – a fact that Sen. Kushner seems to conveniently ignore.

Don’t let legislators tell you that this is a fight between charter schools and district schools. Each parent will be able to send their student to whichever school fits their needs best, just as many parents have sent some of their kids to AIS Magnet and have kept others in DPS.

I don’t expect every legislator to agree with me on every issue. I do expect every legislator to have an honest conversation about improving Danbury schools because the status quo is not sustainable. Sen. Kushner’s opposition to charter schools is myopic, privileged and bad for Danbury families. We expect a higher level of discourse and discussion from our elected leaders.

Xiomara McNab is president of LEAD, Latinos for Educational Advocacy in Danbury.