In it, he writes: "Today, our special-education population hovers around 40 percent. Low-income families represent 93 percent of our population. These levels are far beyond what the governor has proposed, far beyond what the Boston Public Schools serves. Is this failure? Was this "brand" a mistake? We didn't set out to specialize in serving these populations; it just turned out that way."
Mr. Mayo is correct that his school has a difficult population to teach. This year, Uphams Corner has the highest Challenge Index score of any charter middle or middle/high school in Boston. (Numbers courtesy of the DOE).
And yet, it hasn't always been that way. In the early years of the school, Uphams Corner's had a high CI, but one that is comparable to other charter schools in the city. The UCCS population has been getting more and more challenging every year.
Why is that? Mike Mayo seems to think it's because his school attracted "Challege Index" parents. That's one way a percentage can increase. My guess is that it "didn't just turn out that way." My guess is that many non-"Challenge Index" parents (the ones who have a better chance of navigating school choice), fled as soon as they realized how unsuccessful UCCS was. Remember, Uphams had issues retaining teachers and kids, scoring well on tests, and maintaining orderly clasrooms. And of course, once this process started, I'm sure it became a vicious cycle.
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