Last month, the MPS Board voted to end the Carmen Northwest Charter Schoolcontract in 2027. That decision dismayed me deeply, because it appeared driven more by ideology about charter schools than by the needs of students, families, staff — and even MPS itself.
I come from a family of teachers. In fact, my mom was one of her school’s teachers’ union representatives for many years. I attended public schools from kindergarten through college. I care profoundly about public education.
My husband is a second-career high school teacher who began teaching in MPS on the city’s North Side. His experience so disillusioned him that he nearly left teaching altogether. But Sister Mary Diez, a mentor of his at Alverno College, urged him to try one more year — this time at Carmen. So, he joined the first cohort of teachers to open Carmen Northwest in 2013.