Charter Performance

Yesterday's Chicago Tribune carried an article entitled 'Charter schools get tougher scrutiny.' Why would they receive tougher scrutiny? Because, for the first time ever, the state released detailed performance data for the city charters and the news isn't necessarily stellar.

According the article, 'many schools (charters) from even the most prominent charter networks struggle to close the achievement gap for low income students.'

Mind you, not a single charter is slated for closing next year even though some of the charters performed almost as badly on state exams as those schools scheduled for closing. It isn't easy for CPS to close charters for a variety of reasons.

CPS Chief Jean-Claude Brizard has acknowledged the fact that a couple of charters are struggling. A day after the charter school data was released by the state, Brizard announced that CPS had begun the revocation process for two charters.

I digress however!!! My main point is this, whether a school is a charter public school or a tradtional neighborhood public school, where income is low, poverty is high, crime is rampant, jobs are tough to find and the mechanisms outside the building are nearly absent in terms of helping students, it will be a tough job to lift students up.

Helping students who are struggling in neighborhoods that are struggling is a monumental task and if the school in such an area is a charter, that doesn't mean that its students will instantly get a better education.

All hands will be needed within schools, families and communities to help children move forward. That is a fact.

Thanks,
Dick