Charters Shut Down

The Chicago Public School Board closed three low performing charter schools yesterday. A fourth charter may likely face the same fate when the CPS board gets together in December. The charter schools don't operate under the same rules as typical neighborhood schools. The neighborhood schools are regulated by a state-mandate process that is somewhat lengthy. Charters aren't under the purview of this process. CPS gets to determine the process of keeping charters open or closed.

It ought to be known that a couple of these schools have made progress and the CPS chief education officer acknowledged as much but she also said that "they failed to meet goals they laid out in remediation plans."

I believe it is also worth noting that these four charters - three closed - are mostly in poor neighborhoods. Here's the point...it doesn't matter if its a neighborhood school or a charter; the structure of a school doesn't guarantee success. Areas of poverty, crime, unemployment, low property values (low property tax income) and other concerns have a huge impact upon what takes place within the four walls of a school. Until all sides come to grips with this, the 'closing' trend will likely continue.

Dick