The politics of public education often take center stage in debates about the best way forward for American schools. Advocates for reform do daily battle with advocates for tradition and, in New Jersey as well as the rest of the country, consensus can seem remote. But an editorial by Camden Superintendent Paymon Rouhanifard in today’s Philadelphia Inquirer reminds us of what’s at stake: a remarkable young lady named Alesha Figueroa.

Alesha has led the sort of hardscrabble life you’d read about in a Horatio Alger novel. When she was two years old her father was sentenced to prison and he’s still there.  Her mother died of leukemia when Alesha was five and she lives with her loving grandmother. After some typical teenage acting-out in ninth grade, Alesha devoted herself to academics, graduating fifth in her class from Woodrow Wilson High School in Camden with a 3.8 GPA. Here’s her eloquent and moving speech at Camden Public Schools’ “Remarkable Graduates Award Ceremony” (about 27:30 minutes in).

An “A” student and class president, you’d expect Alesha to soar through her classes at Rutgers-Camden. Here’s Superintendent Rouhanifard:

At Rutgers-Camden last fall, Alesha had a shocking realization – she was not ready for the rigors of college. After reaching a point where she could breeze through high school coursework and complete her homework during class time, Alesha did not know how to study. She did not know how to take notes. An aspiring marine biologist, she was on the verge of failing her math and science classes when she e-mailed me in October. 

“College is already a huge difficulty for me,” she wrote. “I’m not on everyone else’s level, and I was not prepared for this. I hope that maybe my experience could help others realize that our city’s education needs improvement.”

Like Horatio Alger’s heroes, Alesha’s story has a happy ending. After much study, she recently received a “B” in a biology class and has renewed confidence in her ability to manage college-level material.

But Alesha’s successful completion of a college course is in spite of Camden’s traditional public schools, not because of them.  Rouhanifard doesn’t mince words:

Three out of five students are now graduating, but only a small fraction of students are leaving high school with the skills they need to succeed in college or a career. Less than a quarter of our students can read and do math on grade level. In a recent survey, more than half of Camden parents said they wish their child attended a different school.

According to the DOE’s 2012-2013 School Performance Report, Woodrow Wilson, Alesha’s alma mater, “is meeting 0% of its performance targets in the area of Graduation and Post-Secondary.” No student got a 1550 or higher on the SAT (a measure of college-career readiness), no student took at A.P. test, and 72% failed the state’s basic skills test in math.

But there’s much hope for Camden Public Schools. (See today’s NJ Spotlight for a balanced look at the challenges facing the district). Rouhanifard’s strategic plan, the Camden Commitment, is smart and solid, built on pillars of community collaboration, transparency, and readiness to confront and transform a long history of failure. Recent surveys indicate that parents and students are energized, and there are promising trends in student outcomes.

In the midst of rancorous debates about standardized testing, the role of the federal government, the Common Core, and school choice, it’s easy to forget that this is all about Alesha. Rouhanifard notes,

We’ve made a commitment to Camden – safe, state-of-the-art buildings, great teaching, and strong support and service to our students and their families. Our Camden Commitment was built collaboratively with our community, and it is filled with promise – the promise of our children, and a promise to give them everything they need for a great future. 

For Alesha and for all of her peers now in Camden schools, it is a promise we must keep.