I had expected the Chicago Board of Education to fully approve all of the charter school applicants at yesterday's monthly meeting. To my pleasant surprise (for the time being) only seven of the nearly 20 schools were approved to open over the next two years.
In fact out of the seven approved five have to meet certains conditions in the coming months in order to get the go ahead. Only Great Lakes Academyand ITW David Speer Academy were given the green light.
What's the meaning behind all of this? There are many ways of looking at the decision. For one, it appears as though the charter application process is under a good deal of scrutiny. For another, the pressure of a district in monetary crisis is likely to be a factor. It's also very possible that the combined pressure of school closings, in the past, combined with the board's sensitivity to these issues surrounding charters has come to the fore.
Sadly, as the Chicago Sun Times editorial page pointed out, "this year's charter process was supposed to focus on placing schools in areas with overcrowded schools. We see very limited results there." Indeed that is the case.
Kudos to the Board of Ed for not rubber stamping all charter applications!
Dick
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