LETTER TO THE EDITOR: Studies show that charter schools not more effective
by KENNETH BASS, Adairsville
Oct 16, 2012 | 726 views | 0 0 comments | 2 2 recommendations | email to a friend | print
CONCERNING THE ISSUE of charter schools, the state is being inundated with an estimated $1 million by pro-charter school forces, 95 percent coming from out of state entities.

While considering how to vote on this issue, it is important to consider if charter schools are effective in raising student achievement. Pro-charter supporters often quote studies supporting their contention that charter schools are more effective than traditional public schools, but many of the studies they cite are flawed. Charter schools often avoid taking at-risk students, students with physical or behavioral considerations and charter schools in poorer neighborhoods tend to attract the better students from public schools.

For a more balanced look consider the following:

  • A 2010 study by Mathematica found that students attending charter schools were no better in math and reading than students attending public schools. “...on average, charter schools did not have a significant impact on student achievement.”

  • An article in the Minneapolis Post cited a study which found that charter schools underperform when compared to traditional public schools. “When controlling for factors such as poverty, students in charter elementary schools score 7.5 percent lower in math and 4.4 percent lower for reading that students in schools run by public school districts.”

  • A RAND study in 2008 found that students in charter schools made gains that were statistically indistinguishable from public schools.

  • The National Assessment of Educational Progress, (2009) stated that students in most charter schools performed no better than public school students.

  • In probably the largest study of its kind, Stanford University analyzed data from over 2,000 charter schools. This study “found that 37 percent had learning gains significantly below those of local public schools, 46 percent had gains that were no different, only 17 percent showed growth that was significantly different.” Most damaging for the charter school movement was the conclusion, “This study reveals in unmistakable terms that in the aggregate, charter schools are not faring as well as their traditional public school counterparts.” Incidentally, this study was funded by pro-charter groups such as the Walton Family Foundation.

    Our public schools are seriously underfunded. In the past decade $5.5 billion has been stripped from state educational funding. Staffs have been severely reduced, teachers laid off, the number of school days has been shortened, and the teacher-pupil ratio has increased.

    Charter schools would only take funds from the already stressed public school system. And for what?

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