In 2009, the Board of Education of the Los Angeles Unified School District passed a Public School Choice Motion that expanded the number of charter schools in the district.
While in my Huffington Post blogs I frequently complain about both charter schools and the way high-stakes testing is perverting education in the United States, sometimes the data the tests produce can be useful.
So to answer the question “Do Charter Schools Really Do Better?” let’s look at some test score numbers from Los Angeles.
While in my Huffington Post blogs I frequently complain about both charter schools and the way high-stakes testing is perverting education in the United States, sometimes the data the tests produce can be useful.
So to answer the question “Do Charter Schools Really Do Better?” let’s look at some test score numbers from Los Angeles.
On SAT exams
administered to high school juniors 2400 is the maximum possible score.
A score of 1500 is considered the minimum threshold signifying college
readiness. Top colleges demand much more. In 2013, 2052 was the average
SAT grade for freshmen accepted into UCLA.
The Los Angeles Times published a list
of the average SAT scores at the 100 lowest performing high schools in
Los Angeles County. Eight of the ten worst performing schools, including
one that has already been closed, are charter schools. This includes
the Animo Locke Charter High School #1 operated by the Green Dot
Corporate Charter Schools chain whose founder, Steve Barr
wants to run for mayor of Los Angeles in 2017 based on his record of
educational “success.” Green Dot also operates four other charter high
schools among the bottom twenty SAT performers and a total of nine
schools in the bottom fifty.
Critics
have long charged that the SAT primarily measures the socio-economic
status of students, a charge the College Board, which operates the SAT
refutes. However Los Angles high school SAT test scores seem to confirm
what critics are saying. In each of the ten worst performing schools,
the student population is more than 90% Latino and Black and in some
cases it is 100%. The number of students eligible for free or reduced
price lunch at these schools, a major indicator of poverty level, ranges
from 84% to 99%. In some of the schools the number of English Language
Learners approaches 50% of the student population.
Despite bad performance, Los Angeles charter schools also seem to be free to ignore the rights of parents and children. The Granada Hills Charter High School has
been reprimanded by the Los Angeles Unified School District Charter
Schools Division for improperly charging students $60 cap and gown fees
for graduation ceremonies and violating parent rights to opt children
out of standardized testing by making the tests a requirement for
participation in extra-curricular activities including athletic teams.
The school’s Parent-Student Handbook
states “All students must participate fully in California CAASPP and
Granada Testing in their 9th, 10th and 11th grade year to be eligible to
participate in optional activities such as senior activities, school
extracurricular activities and school athletics. Students who clearly
disregard the test as determined by the testing coordinator or test
proctor will be regarded as having refused to comply with the testing
requirement and will be subject to loss of senior activities, school
extracurricular activities and school athletics.
Granada Hills Charter is one of the largest and highest performing charter schools in California and the United States. It is also a school
with a White or Asian student majority, relatively fewer economically
disadvantaged students, and almost no English Language Learners.
The reality is
that despite their claims, charter schools cannot perform educational
miracles. At least in Los Angeles, it is not even clear they serve
inner-city minority youth as well as public schools do.
More Charter Blues/News
Also in California: The Tri-Valley Learning Corporation
operates four California charter schools, two in Livermore and two in
Stockton. Livermore and Stockton are both east of San Francisco.
Tri-Valley claims to “use innovation in education research, to design,
create and operate world-class, exemplary charter schools that encourage
and enable every student to reach his or her full potential as a
scholar, a citizen and a life-long learner.” But the New Jerusalem Elementary School district
serving Livermore is not that happy with the way it operates its
schools. In April 2016, the District’s governing board sent Tri-Valley
official notification that unless it corrected the way it operated its
tow charter schools in Livermore, the District would revoke its charter.
In the letter to Tri-Valley, New Jerusalem charged, “TVLC has failed to
meet generally accepted accounting principles, engaged in fiscal
mismanagement, and violated provisions of law.” It gave Tri-Valley until
May 8 to respond.
The District also suspects Tri-Valley of a conflict of interest because it shares one of its public facilities with a private charter school with ties to its former CEO. The chain of charter schools also faces accusations of charging illegal tuition fees to foreign students and of owing $208,000 to a local community college for a “teacher fee” and $90,000 to the city of Livermore in back taxes.
The District also suspects Tri-Valley of a conflict of interest because it shares one of its public facilities with a private charter school with ties to its former CEO. The chain of charter schools also faces accusations of charging illegal tuition fees to foreign students and of owing $208,000 to a local community college for a “teacher fee” and $90,000 to the city of Livermore in back taxes.
Meanwhile in North Carolina: On April 26, the Attorney General of North Carolina filed a suit
against the now defunct Kinston Charter Academy. The suit charges the
company and its officers with financial mismanagement and requests that
the assets of the principal officers be frozen. Legal officials also
demanded the charter company repay North Carolina $600,000 in
misappropriated state funds plus damages and civil penalties. According
to the papers filed with the court, charter school management used
public funds for themselves, inflated the number of students enrolled in
order to receive additional tax dollars, misled prospective students,
and failed to disclose information to parents.
Alan Singer is a social studies educator in the Department of Teaching, Literacy and Leadership at Hofstra University in Long Island, New York and the editor of Social Science Docket (a joint publication of the New York and New Jersey Councils for Social Studies). He taught at a number of secondary schools in New York City, including Franklin K. Lane High School and Edward R. Murrow High School. He is the author of Education Flashpoints: Fighting for America's Schools (Routledge, 2014) which is based on his award winning Huffington Post blogs, Teaching to Learn, Learning to Teach: A Handbook for Secondary School Teachers (Routledge, 2013), Social Studies For Secondary Schools, 4th Edition (Routledge, 2014), New York and Slavery, Time to Teach the Truth (SUNY, 2008), and Teaching Global History (Routledge, 2011).
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