I can't tell you how sorry I was to see this San Francisco Chronicle story about American Indian Public Charter School's principal, Ben Chavis retiring. According to the story, he told the board in March he was planning on leaving after this last school year. I can't help but feel that at least part of what led him to retire is related to all the hoopla about how he treated adults who visited his school. The day he told the board he was leaving was the same day he berated the visiting grad student from Mills College.

We can argue about whether his methods were appropriate, but you certainly can't argue about the results.

When he took over the 4-year-old charter school at 3637 Magee Ave. in 2000, it had 34 middle school students and was sinking fast. The school had no viable test scores and couldn't retain students.

By 2002, the school had tripled its enrollment, and test scores were climbing.

By 2006, more than 150 low- income students -- mainly Asian Americans, Latinos and African Americans -- were among the topscorers in the state on the California Standards Test.

Last September, Chavis expanded American Indian to include high school. The scores of those students are not yet posted.

In 2006, Chavis beat every middle school in Oakland and was one of the top scoring middle schools in the state. His school has received numerous awards and people have been traveling from across the nation to find out how he did it.

Unfortunately, I think many people saw Chavis as a challenge to their beliefs. Instead of making excuses for why his students didn't perform by blaming poverty, parents, crime or anything else for that matter, he committed the cardinal sin of public education. He held his students accountable for their actions. He taught them that what they did had consequences. The consequences weren't pleasant, but they were consistent.

In my opinion, far too many educators either purposely or probably unthinkingly, make excuses for why poor or minority students don't do well in school. Over time students pick up on that and they begin to believe that those educators are right. Ben Chavis doesn't buy that. The Mills College situation is a great example.

In March, a group from Mills College in Oakland asked to visit the school.

"I had an appointment with the professor, who disagreed with my philosophy," Chavis said.

One of the graduate students joining the professor arrived late, bringing coffee.

"I told him he's a dumbass idiot," Chavis recalled. "An embarrassment to minorities. That's what I said. He came late. White people are on time. What does he think, there's black time? Mexican time? Indian time?

"The clock is white."

Chavis said he saw no reason to hold his guests to a different standard than he requires of his own students.

"If the kids come one second late, they stay an hour after school," he said.

Some would argue that Chavis' comments were racist, but I just don't believe that. He is trying to get people to understand that poor and minority students shouldn't expect nor do they deserve special treatment. They need to be held to high standards and high expectations. They need someone to convince them that they are capable of being successful. That's what Ben Chavis did. That's why his students succeeded. I only hope his replacement can be as successful. I'd hate to see the school revert to just another failing Oakland public school. That would be a terrible legacy for all of Ben's hard work.

Enjoy retirement Ben. Somehow I don't think he'll last long without a challenge. I hope he comes back to work soon. I can think of many California public schools who could use a principal or a superintendent like him.