Illustration: HuffPost; Photos: Getty

When Sydney Chaffee was named the winner of the 2017 National Teacher of the Year award, fellow educators and advocates warned her that because she taught in a charter school, other teachers might not feel like she represented them. After all, charter schools are often accused of siphoning resources away from traditional public schools and cherry-picking students. She recalls one time, after giving a talk about the importance of social justice in education, an audience member asked: If you believe in these causes, then why do you work in a charter? While Chaffee thinks of teaching as inherently political, she never viewed her choice to work in a charter as a political statement ― she went to work and graded papers, planned lessons and mentored students like everyone else. But suddenly her life choices were under scrutiny, especially from those with similar belief systems. In recent years and even more so in the lead-up to the 2020 election, charter schools have become a political talking point, especially in progressive and Democratic circles. Many charter school educators, like Chaffee, are also progressive. But as the election cycle ramps up, they are watching from the sidelines as their livelihoods have become more politicized. HuffPost spoke to over a dozen left-leaning charter school educators and advocates to hear how it feels to be under scrutiny from fellow Democrats. Some teachers said they’re paying close attention to Democratic candidates’ rhetoric on this issue and will remember politicians’ specific stances when they go to the ballot box. But others are happy to see their employers under fire and expressed ambivalence about their own involvement in education reform causes. Most started working at charters by happenstance and got into education for reasons of social and racial justice ― some of the same reasons the charter school sector is under scrutiny. Charter schools, a type of public school that is privately managed, include small nonprofit institutions and large for-profit chains. While they have been controversial since the first one opened in 1992, for many years they were able to retain a rare bipartisan sheen, gaining the endorsement of Democrats like President Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, and Republicans like George W. Bush. But the sheen has started to fade among both Democratic voters and politicians. Polls from pro-charter groups show that support for charter schools among white Democrats has plummeted, though it has held steady for black and Hispanic Democrats. So far in the 2020 cycle, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has offered an education plan that specifically targets charters, calling for a moratorium on their expansion and a ban on for-profit ones. Other front-runners like Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and former Vice President Joe Biden have also offered measured criticism, attacking for-profit charter schools ― which only represent about 15% of the sector ― and in Biden’s case saying that these schools take resources from traditional schools. In general, around 6% of all public school students in the country attend charter schools, and they are disproportionately black and Hispanic.

Reuters Sydney Chaffee (center) being honored by President Donald Trump after winning the 2017 National Teacher of the Year award.

Twelve years ago, when Chaffee signed up to work in a charter school fresh out of graduate school, she didn’t even quite understand what it meant. She just knew she liked the Boston-based high school and its kids, and thought she could make a difference as a humanities teacher incorporating issues of social justice into her curriculum. But after serving as teacher of the year ― which required her to travel and act as a spokesperson for the profession ― she’s not surprised by the current discourse. She’s become experienced in finding common ground with other educators and advocates ― even those who may treat her with initial wariness ― and tells them that, for her, it’s less about the type of school you work in than the work you do in that school. Now, she’s looking for a presidential candidate who will approach issues of education with the same degree of subtlety. She is most interested in candidates’ overall plans for education ― as opposed to their specific takes on charters ― and is watching their willingness to engage with parents and teachers. “This conversation gets framed in really divisive ways … [as if] you have to be one camp or the other. If you support charters you must not support traditional public education, if you work at a charter you must be anti-union. It’s so much more nuanced than that,” said Chaffee, a ninth grade humanities teacher in Boston’s Codman Academy Charter School. The conversation has only become more divisive. Since 2017, President Donald Trump and U.S. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos’ support of charter schools has further painted charters as a conservative issue. At the same time, teachers unions ― long critical of charters, which are rarely unionized ― have seen a bump in influence. Even Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.), a presidential hopeful who has championed charters throughout his political career, has started to distance himself from the cause. While Chaffee is optimistic about finding common ground with critics, seventh grade teacher Lucas Lyons is not so sure he disagrees with all the judgment. Lyons is a teacher at KIPP Infinity Middle School in New York City. He also attended a KIPP middle school as a student. He believes a national conversation about the flaws of charter schools is overdue. Back when Lyons was a student at KIPP ― one of the largest nonprofit charter school chains in the country ― rules were strict, pressure was high, and test scores were paramount. The school was constructed out of the “no excuses” model, which emphasizes harsh discipline and academic rigor above all else. The model is still a mainstay in many charters. But for Lyons, the militant nature of the school ― which primarily served students of color ― felt discriminatory, even as teachers actively avoided the topic of race. Later, as Lyons went on to attend a predominantly white high school and college, he struggled with forging a sense of identity as a black man.

It’s not so much about taking from one and giving to the other. It’s about making sure everybody has. Abdul Wright, Minnesota’s 2016 teacher of the year