SUBJECT:

Chancellor's Statement on Charter School

To the UCSD Community:

"I want to share with you the announcement I made yesterday at the
Representative Assembly of the Academic Senate."

I suspect the issue of the Charter School has been as much on your
minds as it has on mine. This is one of the most complex issues UCSD
has faced in some time. It raises important questions about the role
we should play in addressing problems that are beyond the traditional
scope of our mission. It is incumbent upon all of us to think these
questions through very carefully, for our response has significant
implications for the future of the university.

After a year of extensive review and conflicting preliminary votes, the
Academic Senate rejected the Charter School proposal placed before it
by mail ballot. I accept that verdict and want to state unequivocally
that I will not move forward with the proposed plan. Having said that,
I also want to thank Cecil Lytle, Bud Mehan, and the others who spent
so many hours developing the proposal, for placing before us the issue
of UCSD's contribution to the early education of our community's
youngsters.

Discussion of the proposed charter school plan is over. But the
question of UCSD's role in the preparation of future university
students remains urgently before us. I know that you, the members of
the faculty, recognize its urgency, for despite the sharply divergent
opinions voiced in Academic Senate reviews of the failed charter
school proposal, I heard a remarkable consensus about its general
goals. Almost unanimously, commentators stated their agreement that
the university should reach out to the public school system and become
more involved in efforts to enhance its effectiveness. The consensus
was again expressed in the motion on outreach that was overwhelmingly
passed by the Representative Assembly on May 6.

Today I ask you to reignite this commitment and join me in seeking
fresh ideas for a UCSD initiative in preparatory public education. I
envision a school or an academy of some kind that would serve as a
hope for disadvantaged young people and a stimulus and model to
schools around the county, as well as a symbol of UCSD's engagement
with the future of San Diego. I have no preconceptions about the form
this initiative would take. Its site might be on or off campus or
both; it might involve partnership with an existing school or
collaboration with another university; it might begin at the
elementary school level. I insist only that it be a comprehensive,
visible, UCSD-sponsored project designed to bring the possibility of
academic excellence to promising but disadvantaged children.

The intensive approach I am calling for would not replace any of
UCSD's successful outreach programs, which are indispensable to our
shared goal of extending the university's impact on the preparation of
future students as broadly as possible. Rather, a UCSD academy,
school or partnership would form the keystone that links together and
gives visibility to the array of programs through which UCSD
contributes to educational efforts throughout the county. Together,
the intensive and extensive approaches will enhance one another.

Let me make one final point before I describe my plan of action. I
know that a worry many of you might have about the kind of initiative
I am proposing concerns its effect on our primary mission at a time
when we are still fragile from the enormous budget cuts of the recent
past. Though I feel strongly that the objectives to be met are
important for the university, for our children and for our community,
I will not jeopardize the resources necessary to the university's
teaching and research missions. I firmly believe that if we are
successful in working with the community in creating a school or
academy of some sort, new resources can be found to support this
endeavor.

For all these reasons, I have asked Georgios Anagnostopoulos and
Darrel Fanestil to join with me in appointing a joint Senate and
Administration committee whose charge will be to take a fresh look at
the university's outreach objectives and to develop a proposal for an
intensive UCSD educational project for underprivileged children. The
plan it develops should be ready for Academic Senate review in the
fall and be put to a vote by next November. I assure you that I will
not move forward with any plan for a school, partnership or academy
without the formal approval of the faculty. But I am confident that
among us we have the creativity and the commitment to fashion a
proposal that we can all enthusiastically support. For the good of the
university and the community and our collective future, we must find
our way through these complex issues together. I truly believe that
in pushing ahead we can come up with a plan that future generations
will look back on as one of UCSD's finest ventures.

Robert C. Dynes Chancellor