‘Reform’ discussion includes charter school expansion

Research clashes with rhetoric

Despite a growing body of research that casts doubt on whether the academic performance of students in charter schools is any better than that of their peers in traditional public schools, these alternative schools are at the heart of some of the reform talks taking place in Lansing right now.

Charter school supporters rallied Thursday, Sept. 24, at the Capitol as part of their push to increase the number of the academies allowed in Michigan.

Sen. Wayne Kuipers, R-Holland, is the primary sponsor of a package of bills that would create new public schools called “neighborhood schools.” These public schools would operate much like charter schools. For years, charter school proponents have urged lawmakers to allow more charter schools, currently limited by a cap on the number authorized by public universities. MEA opposes Kuipers’ bills, Senate Bills 636-638.  MEA continues to stand for responsible expansion of charter schools that includes increases in accountability and financial transparency, as called for in the MEA-supported McPherson Commission report of 2002.

Research doesn’t support rhetoric that charter schools provide students, especially in low-performing districts, an alternative that will lead to improve performance, or that charter school competition will lead to improvements in neighboring districts.

A study by Stanford University, for example, found that students in more than 80 percent of charter schools either performed the same as – or worse than – students in traditional schools on math tests. The same study found that African-American and Hispanic students were found to do worse in charter schools.

Other research, including through the Great Lakes Center and the RAND Institute, echo these findings.

Updated: February 2, 2010