July 2007 

A Diamond, Rough Around the Edges

He is crass, often insulting in his manners and words to adults or, less frequently, students, and is unapologetic in his approach. It's not because he is mean or racist - he is anything but that, caring only that children get the education they deserve without distractions, excuses, or soft, well-meaning adults who'd rather give poor kids a pass.

He is Ben Chavis, once one of the Golden State's most successful school principals, whose poor, urban Oakland, California charter school bested all other public schools in the city and made the top ten percent of all California middle schools - period.

But he has now moved on to another state, likely pushed out by the continuing criticism of his methods and a little madness.

I admire Ben Chavis. Maverick, independent, and fiercely loyal to kids, he ran American Indian Public Charter School without need or want for compensation, present from early morning to late night, focused not just on his school but on the fate of each of his students, whom he sought successfully to place in top public high schools and private academies - even boarding schools for society's best-off, as far away as Connecticut.

Jose was one of those, whom I had the good fortune to meet at a graduation ceremony for American Indian Charter's eighth grade graduating class. Jose had been gone a year, and came back to pay respects to his former leader, and to see friends graduate. I asked him how he liked his new school in the East. The social parts were a difficult adjustment, but he felt academically prepared. Prepared for one of the top boarding schools in the nation? That's what Chavis did for every one of his kids. He required them to take the SATs, and created partnerships with well-regarded institutions, including Johns Hopkins University's Center for Talented Youth, to bring his students challenges normally reserved for the affluent. Initially, he reached out to all of these places personally, wrangling scholarships for his students to participate. Later, these institutions sought out his students and graduates, knowing they had received one of the finest educations available, despite being in one of the poorest communities around.

At that same event, several parents told me how American Indian Charter saved their child's life. One woman conceded that she worked for the district and would never send a child to any other school than Ben Chavis'. That's also what the veteran police officer from Oakland told me, who added that Chavis' tough approach meant everything to kids, who often had few expectations for their future, other than to be expected to cause trouble.

Chavis knew his students and their families, and loved the community where he'd moved his own family to take on this school. I don't condone his language or occasional verbal assaults on people who got in his way or acted contrary to what he expected. There is no question, however, that he helped kids do what no public educator had done in that area before - or will likely be able to do again.

Many district officials loathed him and exploited any information they could get about his inflammatory words or insults. The newspapers both praised and vilified him, especially upon hearing of his departure. But we're a forgiving lot, and just as we forgive personally wayward politicians who have advanced meaningful social policy, or hot-headed athletes who have brought a new level of competitive talent to a sport, Ben Chavis deserves our respect and gratitude for his dedication to kids, and our prayers and well wishes so that someday, perhaps more mellowed and refined, he may be welcomed again to deliver great education to the neediest of children.

Good luck and Godspeed, Ben.

Link here to Jeanne's Commencement Address to American Indian Charter's eighth grade graduating class, and her Letter to the Editor in the Oakland Tribune. See more on Ben Chavis at Education Gadfly.