Austin Independent School District Superintendent Meria Carstarphen is seated, busily typing away on her Blackberry, only vaguely aware that she has a guest.

It's Dec. 21, and she's not quite two days removed from seeing six of the nine Austin Independent School District's board of trustees vote in favor of partnering with IDEA Public Schools to establish the district's second and more contentious in-district charter school: a historical day in the AISD narrative, and an event that may come to define the zeitgeist of the new decade for Austin education.

IDEA has become synonymous with controversy in the district over the last few months, especially with parents and students that have a vested interest in the Eastside Memorial High School Vertical Team.

Carstarphen and the AISD board of trustees faced strong protest, even from within school ranks, prior to approving the IDEA contract, but the superintendent conveyed a reverence for such activism.

"Organized people: that's a great, powerful tool to galvanize energy," Carstarphen says. "I'm encouraged when I see things like that. I want to go pick up my own sign and be part of it, because to me it's the way that things are supposed to be: that you stand for something even if I disagree with you. Thank goodness you're standing for what you believe in."

The Dec. 12 meeting could be summed up as a tempestuous cut and thrust between trustees and the crowd. Carstarphen, who remained hushed through the multiple exchanges between the parties involved (and not without a great deal of struggle), offered her thoughts.

"We're held to 'the standard,' and I would even argue a higher standard that's scrutinized a lot and puts people under a lot of pressure," she says. "I have to control my desire to lobby for my position. What I'm constantly thinking at the table is, 'How can I restrain myself to give them their time to talk?' I work on a lot of restraint."

She added that the back-and-forth is necessary—even healthy—and concedes that the meetings weren't always pretty.

"Perception is reality, and that's part of what you have to manage. I think the public—when people see that—maybe from your own personal experience, if you've only worked in the private sector, you're like, 'Oh my goodness, what is going on there?'" she says. "If we're not wrapping things up by 11 p.m., from 10:30 p.m.–11 p.m., it starts getting kind of dicey. Once you pass 11 p.m., it's anyone's guess what's going to happen."

The meeting concluded at 1 a.m. without seeing a vote on the IDEA in-district charter contract, and as it would be easy to assume that supporters of IDEA walked away from that meeting disheartened, Carstarphen discloses that she considered Dec. 12 a success.

"I was so excited," she says. "Everyone was focused on that one Annual Academic and Facilities Recommendation. There were six! I was elated One in-district charter got passed (Responsive Education Solutions). I don't know if anyone else knew that. And the contract, with no discussion—it was fine!"

Carstarphen seems to reflect on that thought, pointing out that there are similarities between the IDEA and RES contracts.

Equally unforeseen was that after months of debate and discontentment over north central overcrowding solutions, it too passed without much resistance on a 7-1-1 vote.

"From a work session to a board meeting: we opened the door on addressing north central overcrowding; we lifted the floodgates on being able to look out in multiple years," she says.

Opponents of IDEA mobilized as early as 4 a.m. the morning before the vote, protestors occupying the AISD central offices in force, chanting, screaming, hissing, booing, rallying against what—after two labored meetings that both lasted until 1 a.m.—would turn out to be a 6-3 vote in favor of the charter program.

When remembering the events of Dec. 19, Carstarphen said the whole issue had truly gained moment at the June 20, 2011 regular meeting, when the board had unanimously voted to explore a partnership with IDEA.

But come decision time, there was open friction between board members as trustees upbraided the contract for what they said were lacking standards and unaccountable language. Objectors in the crowd were vocal as well, demonstrating their displeasure with the process and IDEA.

"There is a lot of politics in education, which I think is discouraging but the fact that people will organize and work toward an outcome and try to influence it, is just such an important part of making us all better at being the quality institution that the community wants. Are we there yet? Absolutely not," she says. "But I'm hopeful. I said it in the [Dec. 19] meeting when people were saying: 'We're not going away.' Great! Because every time something like this has happened, people do go away."

Carstarphen laughs dryly at a joke about how everyone can relax now that the vote has concluded, but she knows nothing could be further from the truth.

If the in-district charter is successful, it could become a large tactical shift in how public education is done in the district.

But the question remains: what if it doesn't work? What if all of the struggles, talks and money spent are in vain?

"You begin with the end in mind," she says. "I have absolute confidence that we're putting together a design that will be successful for kids and families."