Despite the nonsense published on the NYT editorial page, charter schools are kicking butt in NY state, as this awesome Op Ed in the Post by Joel Klein points out:
On last year's state and city English and math tests, 83 percent of charter schools outperformed other schools in their districts and 78 percent outperformed citywide averages. In grades 3-8, 65.7 percent of charter students met or exceeded math standards, compared to 52.9 percent of students citywide, and 60.3 percent of charter students met or exceeded English standards, compared to 51.8 percent of students citywide.
------------------------
| LET 'EM FLOWER By JOEL KLEIN http://www.nypost.com/postopinion/opedcolumnists/68919.htm May 23, 2006 -- OUR state legislators head home to campaign for re-election in just over four weeks. This time is critical for the children of New York City. Senators and Assembly members have the power to lift the cap on charter schools, providing hope to tens of thousands of parents across the state in search of high-quality schools for their children. Or they can leave the cap in place, denying some of our most at-risk students the educational opportunities they need and deserve. Eight years ago, many of the same lawmakers now debating the future of charters decided to authorize a total of 100 of these schools statewide. Schools that were granted charters had five years to prove themselves before they were held accountable for their results. Now we're bumping up against the ceiling that Albany built. Our communities are demanding charter schools and educators are lined up to create new schools - but we've run out of charters. Back in 1998, the state was taking a bet on charter schools. Today, the evidence shows that authorizing charter schools is a sound investment in our future. | |
<< Home