Press Release
Washington, D.C.
March 2, 2015
The Center for Education Reform (CER) takes issue with its data being used out of context to discredit an important body of evidence on charter schools in the United States. Review of Separating Fact & Fiction, published by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), uses CER data to assert that “underperforming charter schools are allowed to remain open.”
However, CER data cited is taken out of context and thus does not tell the full story on charter school accountability.
The reality is that unlike conventional public schools that remain open year after year despite poor academic achievement or their inability to maintain strong operations, charter schools are intended to, and do, close if they fail to perform according to their charter. Performance-based accountability is the cornerstone of public charter schools.
“Nearly 20 percent of all public charter school closures occur because a school failed to meet acceptable student performance levels (18.6 percent). Many assert that charter laws are only working when schools are closed for failing in their mission to educate kids. But the reality is that operational and financial deficiencies are apparent far before any academic assessments can be meaningful,” states CER’s charter school closure report.
Operational deficiencies show up before academic results because it takes at least three years, sometimes five, the length of the charter to gauge academic data by individual, classroom, school and to compare to other schools and demographics in a fair way.
“Failing to produce audits, pay vendors, or conduct basic, required, oversight processes is a sure sign that whoever is in charge is not capable of leading a strong organization, or that perhaps a board is not focused on its duties and responsibilities,” notes the CER report.
The first two parts of the NEPC report were published in the Washington Post’s Answer Sheet section on February 28, 2015.