The “Chortling over charters” editorial scolds the Illinois State Board of Education for not aggressively seeking federal dollars for more charter schools. Using statistics from just two of more than 60 charter school sites in Chicago, the editorial glossed over the uncomfortable fact that overall charter school academic achievement in the city of Chicago does not make the grade when compared to regular public schools.
A recent U.S. Department of Education report found traditional public school 4th grade students had higher math and reading scores than charter school students. The 2006 Illinois Charter School Report Card showed half of Chicago charters not making Adequate Yearly Progress under No Child Left Behind.
So because student achievement statistics didn’t show their schools in a positive light, charter promoters recently launched CHIP, the Charter Impact Projector to try and make the case for charter expansion. The CHIP model assigns an “economic value” to each charter student based on the student’s projected earnings, using academic performance assumptions that even CHIP’s creator acknowledged were “optimistic.” Charter schools are not the panacea that their backers have touted. It was wise for ISBE to pause before leaping at federal dollars for charter expansion.
