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Why Limit Success?

Despite opponents who are shouting from the rooftops that charter schools are not succeeding amid a debate to #LiftTheCap on charter schools in Massachusetts, the reality is quite the opposite.

Charles Chieppo, a senior fellow at Pioneer Institute, points out that critics are quick to allege that charter schools are educating fewer special education students (SPED) and English Language Learners (ELL).

Guess what? Charter schools in Massachusetts are actually increasing achievement of ELL & SPED students, and they’re doing it faster than their traditional public school counterparts:

“MIT researcher Elizabeth Setren finds that ELL and SPED students, who like everyone in oversubscribed charters were selected by lottery, score better on MCAS and are more likely to meet high school graduation requirements and earn state merit scholarships than their peers who entered charter lotteries but weren’t lucky enough to be chosen.

Statewide, charter ELL students achieve better English proficiency than their peers, and Boston charter schools have closed nearly 90 percent of the achievement gap that exists between ELLs and native English speakers in the Boston Public Schools (BPS). Basing these conclusions on comparisons between charter students and those who entered lotteries but weren’t selected isolates the impact of charter schools.”

Continue reading “Charters are succeeding: Why we should expand, not limit them”

Get more facts on Massachusetts charter schools and take action to lift the cap.