ASHEVILLE — It’s difficult to imagine teachers and their spouses mortgaging their homes and using their savings to fund a school facility, but it happened in the 1990s during the first wave of public charter schools to open in the state.
Although the General Assembly passed a law allowing the innovative and creative public schools to exist, legislators refused to provide a penny in funding to help the fledging campuses obtain facilities. Seven local teachers put up their houses and nest eggs as collateral for seed funding at a school that would start as K-5 and then add grades as enrollment and demand grew. The bold move paid off for those vested in a better education for children. It set the tone for risk-taking educational experiences at Francine Delany New School for Children in Asheville.
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