CER Press Release
Washington, D.C.
March 31, 2015
The Center for Education Reform (CER) today released a statement in response to a proposal announced yesterday by the Coalition for the Future of Detroit School Children:
“The Detroit Coalition’s report calls for changes to ‘make quality schools the new norm’ for the Michigan city. While CER agrees that accountability and standards are vital for all schools, it’s important that steps taken do not dismantle Michigan’s A-rated charter school law,” said Kara Kerwin, president of CER.
“There’s room for improvement when it comes to ensuring the law is implemented as intended, but charter school authorizers in Michigan, recognizing their responsibility to uphold the highest level of accountability, are working on a groundbreaking accreditation process.”
“A few bad actors should not distract from the fact that Michigan’s truly independent authorizers are a model for charter school authorizers throughout the nation. Michigan has one of the highest charter school closure rates nationwide at 22 percent.”
“It would be remiss to undermine this sort of accountability and add additional layers of bureaucracy with regards to the opening, closing, and renewal of charter schools.”