One in Five Charter Schools Should Close on Performance
By John Hechinger - Nov 28, 2012 11:56 AM ET
As many as one in five U.S. charter schools should be shut down because of poor academic performance, according to a group representing states, districts and universities that grant them permission to operate.
The National Association of Charter School Authorizers said 900 to 1,300 of the privately run, publicly financed schools should close because they are in the bottom 15 percent of public schools in their states. The Chicago-based group’s members -- such as the Los Angeles Unified School District and the State University of New York -- oversee more than half of the nation’s 5,600 charter schools.
The announcement represents a challenge to the fast-growing charter-school movement, created as an alternative to conventional districts and operating without many of their rules. To hold the organizations accountable, states must pass new laws that would shut down poor performers, said Greg Richmond, president of the charter-school organization.
“For all the excellent charter schools, there are also many not serving students well,” Richmond said from Washington in a briefing with reporters. “That’s unacceptable.”
The call for closing poor-performers carries special weight because it comes from an organization funded by charter-school advocates such as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Walton Family Foundation.
About 2 million children, who make up 4 percent of public- school enrollment, attend U.S. charter schools, more than three times the number 10 years ago, according to the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools, a Washington-based nonprofit group.
more:
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-28/one-in-five-charter-schools-should-close-on-performance.html
| 
