There is a lot of misinformation out there about charter schools.
You’ve heard the lies: charter schools take money from the public schools, charter schools turn away students, charter schools encourage segregation and on they go. Rhonda Dillingham, Executive Director of the North Carolina Association for Public Charter Schools and Nina Rees, president and CEO of the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools in Washington authored a piece in Education Post earlier this week that lays to rest some of the myths surrounding charter schools and highlights the many advantages they offer families in North Carolina. It’s worth the read.
There has been a lot of discussion about the pace of charter school development. A new study from the David Griffith of the Fordham Institute. Griffith investigates the relationship between growth in charter school market share and student achievement. It’s certainly a topic of interest for those following the fast growing charter school sector in North Carolina. Griffith had three major findings:
- Higher charter school market share in larger urban areas was tied to higher student achievement levels for black and Hispanic students.
- In rural and suburban areas, higher charter market share was also associated with greater achievement gains for Hispanic students. In rural districts, Black students saw gains.
- The study found no evidence that higher charter school market share brought achievement gains for white students.
What does it all mean? Researchers found no evidence to suggest that charters have a negative impact on the performance of traditional public schools. Secondly, evidence suggests expanding the presence of charter schools in black and Hispanic communities can boost student achievement and reduce achievement gaps.
