Google the phrase “alternative public education” and it will render 46,200,000 results. Do the same thing for “home schooling” and more than 3 billion results pop up. It’s difficult to pick up a national newspaper these days and not see a story on the charter school movement. “Waiting for Superman,” a 2010 documentary about the state of education in America garnered the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival for best documentary.

People have become acutely tuned into education for one simple reason: the evolution of our public school system as it seeks better results. This aggressive shift toward reworking how our students are taught makes it imperative to learn why it is happening, who benefits, and what the results have been thus far. In depth answers to these questions go beyond the scope of this narrative, however, but are well worth a little research so as to understand both the reticence and the enthusiasm that surrounds this trend.

Current national statistics report that one in four students entering high school will drop out before graduation. Maine is close to the national average with 23 percent not graduating. Other states are far worse; for example, Louisiana sits at 40 percent, while Washington, D.C., has a drop-out rate of 57 percent.

As of the 2011-12 school year, only 10 states had not passed legislation allowing public charter schools in an effort to meet this problem head-on. Maine enters the public charter school arena this September after the state Legislature passed LD 1553: An Act to Create a Public Charter School Program in 2011.

The drive to retool our traditional education system should not be framed solely as a failure of the public schools. American cultural trends, shifting performance standards, restrictive curriculum requirements, and political agendas can all claim a share in the diminishing result.

Today’s parents are no different than they have ever been in regard to what they expect in terms of their child’s education. They want their kids to receive a quality and relevant public education for their tax dollars in a secure student population where the teachers are competent and passionate about how and what they teach. They hope it will provide a challenging environment that encourages kids of every ability to seek excellence. Today, however, more than in generations past, parents seek a choice in public education as to where they will send their kids 40 hours a week.

Our traditional schools have grown so large that too many students fall through the cracks. Parental expectations of a campus atmosphere that provides discipline and student accountability are easily lost due to shear volume of the student population. High performing students often are not pushed academically and many disinterested students can find places to hide, under perform, and all too often disappear.

A team of citizens in Harpswell has quietly been at work since 2011 creating the infrastructure for what they see as a new chapter in public education; small, taskoriented curricula where teachers and local professionals guide and facilitate students in a community-based culture of learning. They are taking advantage of Maine’s new charter school legislation as the vehicle for the establishment of their public school endeavor.

Harpswell Coastal Academy aims to open its doors in September 2013. Its founders, and recently commissioned board of directors are firmly committed to quality public education provided on a small scale that promotes this distinct learning ethos. Cooperative relationships between students, faculty and community will serve to compel all to see everything in life, including the required state curriculum — as a relevant learning experience.

SCOTT RUPPERT lives in Harpswell.