In the midst of the ongoing debate over charter schools, this week's New Yorker includes a profile of one highly successful Boston charter school - the Pacific Rim Academy - that serves as a reminder that charters, while not a panacea, offer hope that the hardest-to-teach students don't have to be left behind. Like most charter success stories you read, this one includes vignettes about students who are going on to solid four-year colleges against all odds, of dedicated teachers who believe that each and every student in the school can succeed and who devote themselves to teaching and counseling students who might otherwise slip through the cracks. What makes this profile especially memorable, though, is the honest portrayal of the students who buy into the school's promise of success, but somehow fall short of their goals. Yes, this year Pacific Rim saw 100 percent of its students graduate, but one missed graduation and his college freshman orientation because he had suffered two gunshot wounds, was arrested for assault with a dangerous weapon, and was sent to the Suffolk County jail. And, yes, the staff is dedicated, caring, and professional, but this year the principal will have to replace a third of the faculty, most of whom left to find jobs with bigger paychecks, fewer hours, and less emotional depletion. Yet, despite these challenges, Pacific Rim students show achievement gains that rival or surpass the best traditional public schools in Boston, demonstrating that sometimes innovation and perseverance can pave the way to success. As Pacific Rim director Spencer Blasdale notes, "Everybody's looking for the hundred-percent solution. And, when they find it call me, I'm there. But in the meantime, as one of my principal friends likes to say, I'll take a hundred one-percent solutions instead."
"The factory," by Katherine Boo, New Yorker, October 18, 2004