The school serves about 320 students from kindergarten through eighth grade, and more than 60 percent of them are Hmong. Public schools, by contrast, must try to please everyone, including parents who want their deaf children to learn to read lips and speak. Schools in Rochester, which has one of the largest concentrations of deaf people in the country, use a variety of communication methods, including sign language, speech and lip-reading. You understand the reading lesson. It's more fun,'' she said through an interpreter.
Extra work required But independence also means extra work.
Running a school requires expertise that the education-minded people who start charter schools often lack. Two teachers handle nearly every aspect of operating the Frederick Douglass Math and Science Academy in Minneapolis. Emotions run high in the kindergarten and first-grade room. Teacher Christine Deal kneels to comfort two arguing girls, hugging one and softly speaking to the other. The teachers must also run the school's board, buy supplies, answer the phone and maintain partnerships with community groups.