Well, it hasn't exactly worked out the way we had hoped. The New York Times reports that thousands of charter schools are now operating in 40 states but the results are less than stellar.
It was a good thought. Private schools have excellent results--so, let's take public funds and invest them in public schools that look like private schools. Should work, right?
The data seems to indicate that charter schools perform no better than larger, public schools. Since the data collection seems to be a little sloppy, it is difficult to determine just where charter schools fall.
Michigan
Michigan quickly opened over 200 charter schools. They were to be the answer to the state's educational problems. You have to give Michigan an "A" for effort. At least they are trying something new and innovative. The Evaluation Center, a well-known research group at Western Michigan University, states that charter schools in Michigan and Ohio are actually having a negative impact. Students are not only not doing better, some are doing worse. Is it the charter school that has failed or the student? Has this experiment been given enough time?
So, maybe charter schools, as they are being run right now, are not the answers. Many small schools throughout the nation do have excellent results. The big question is, "How do small public schools, other private and parochial counterparts make it work so well?"
Read previous articles on Educational Issues.
Copyright article 2006 Barbara Pytel. All Rights Reserved.
