Charter schools make an impressive showing on the U.S. News & World Report’s list of America’s Best High Schools, accounting for 24 percent of the top 100 high schools on the rankings. For the rankings, U.S. News & World Report evaluated 500 top schools. Of these 500 schools, 84 are charter schools, totaling 17 percent of the ranked schools.
U.S. News & World Report evaluated the schools based on highest college readiness, a specifically defined measure of what constitutes a “top-rated” school. However, the reality is there are actually many factors that determine what constitutes a quality school; restricting quality to a formula leaves little room for innovation, the very hallmark of charter schools. For instance, if U.S. News & World Report were to rate top schools based on parent satisfaction, there is little doubt that charter schools would constitute an even larger share of the top 100 public schools.
Issues with ranking criteria aside, there’s still much to be said for the fact that despite making up just six percent of all public schools, charter schools composed a large share of these “top-rated” schools. The fact that there is a disproportionately high percentage of charters on this list shows how effective charter school innovation truly is.
Charter schools prove again and again that they work. With the nation’s current proficiency rate in reading and math at 34 percent and an influx of 11 million students in the near future, we need more schools that have the freedom and flexibility to meet each student’s unique needs through inventive methods. We need MORE quality schools making up the “top-rated” list (and more measures to indicate what makes a “top-rated” school!), and we will get there by creating strong laws, giving parents options and access to data, and most importantly, allowing for innovation in schools.