NEWS & ANALYSIS

January 16, 2013 Huh? There are lots of ridiculously inaccurate things said about charters but this one takes the cake. “…charters are often not designed with the focus of being responsive to parents…” That’s funny. I’m not sure how one attracts parents if they are not responsive, but apparently an academic at NYU — and…

January 10, 2013 This year’s report from an education news publisher ranks Maryland as number one yet again , and yet again we feel like screaming at the top of our lungs “Wake Up, Maryland! Your schools aren’t No.1!” In the “Wake Up!” piece, CER President Jeanne Allen points out how the ratings that put…

January 9, 2013 No, we don’t have the ability to tell the future, we just know what solid chartering practices look like, and Maine does not have them. Yesterday’s Newswire noted the Governor’s attempts to improve Maine’s charter school law, but we suggested he go further and consider real multiple authorizers not tied to the…

January 2, 2013 Charters still suffer inequity despite great success, a point reinforced in a recent piece by Peter Roff. Chester, Pennsylvania, has more than 3,000 students in charter schools, with a better success rate than local public schools. As Roff puts it: Creating what it calls a “Private, Public School” culture, the Chester charter…

A commentary in the Wall Street Journal today, “The Irrational Fear of For-Profits in Education” , could not have come at a better time, as the hearing on the Brockton charter school, run by for-profit provider SABIS, is today in Massachusetts. The Wall Street Journal piece notes that Americans are fine with privatization in many…

Half of Bellows Free Academy High School graduates are not proficient in reading, and more than half graduate without basic proficiency in math. Local Vermont Superintendent Robert Rosane wanted to change this, but was met with resistance by the union, who said it was unfair to call this high school failing because other surrounding schools…