Noreen Lephardt is an amateur ice sculptor, an adjunct assistant professor of economics and an elementary school board president.

What do these titles have in common? A little bit of healthy competition.

Lephardt took up ice sculpting in 1999 thanks to inter-sibling competition with her brother. She teaches Marquette students how competition determines pricing and production in the classroom.

And in one of the energetic economist's more recent ventures, Lephardt has helped inject more competition into Milwaukee Public Schools by helping to launch Capitol West Academy charter school at 3939 N. 88th St.

"It's kind of easy to apply economics to just about everything," said Lephardt, who has been doing just that by consulting local social service agencies for the past decade.

Taped to her office door in Straz Hall 412 are the smiling faces of the 31 students, three teachers, one principal and four administrators for 2004-'05, the first school year, at Capitol West Academy.

In 2002, Lephardt got the chance to help start up a charter school for kindergarten through third grade students at Capitol West.

"I grew up in Milwaukee and the learning gap at MPS is a big problem," she said. "Maybe MPS isn't good as a monopoly."

Charter schools, Lephardt said, give people choices.

Though technically part of the public school system, charter schools are funded by federal grants and agree to greater accountability in student performance in exchange for waivers from certain state regulations, according to Lephardt.

Capitol West, for instance, uses specialized teaching techniques.

The school is a wholly-owned subsidiary of St. Aemilian-Lakeside, a social services agency that works to educate very at-risk children by fostering a family-centered, stable environment, according to Donna Niccolai-Weber, executive director of Capitol West and division director of education at St. Aemilian.

"We figured out the best practices for kids who were struggling, then transferred those over to a regular school environment," Niccolai-Weber said. "We create a school culture that's positive. We really hold kids accountable for their actions."

Marquette School of Education alumna, Annie Bryse teaches 11 students in her first and second grade multi-age classroom at Capitol West.

"We have a lot more flexibility in what we are teaching," said Bryse, who graduated in December 2003. "We still have to adhere to Wisconsin state standards, but we can choose how to teach it. At MPS, there's a set way you have to teach it, whether the students get it or not."

In addition, Capitol West makes parent involvement mandatory.

"We see this as a partnership," Lephardt said. "There's no way a school can be successful unless parents and teachers and students are on the same page."

The school's "Passport to Success" program is one tool that keeps parents involved and motivates students. All students have "passports" that serve as daily reports to parents on their behavior and academic progress.

"The passport is a communication tool for parents," Niccolai-Weber said. "And at the end of each quarter, the kids cash in their points for school bucks."

The students can cash in the points they earned with good behavior and hard work in the classroom for "cash" in the school store.

"Incentives matter," Lephardt said matter-of-factly. And motivating the kids to do their schoolwork is vital to the small school's survival.

"If a charter school isn't successful, it has to be shut down," she said. "It has to meet the standards of the state," whereas MPS does not.

This challenge, judged by annual standardized test scores, is amplified by the fact that all but one of the school's 31 students entered the school year below proficiency for their grade level, according to Niccolai-Weber.

"I was surprised there were that many kids already falling behind," she said. "There were gaps from a number of months to a number of years."

Capitol West must also boost its enrollment, which fell nearly 20 students short of its initial projection due to the school's out-of-the-way location and lack of a school bus route. The school also plans to extend grade levels to K-4 through fourth for the 2005-'06 school year, part of its "slow growth" initiative.

Despite these challenges, Lephardt is convinced that Capitol West, and charter schools in general, have provided positive competition for all of MPS.

"Studies show that charters, after 10 years of existence, do better than public schools," she said. Charters "enhance the public school system. There's no question in my mind that MPS is better now than it was four years ago."

This article appeared in The Marquette Tribune on Mar. 17 2005.