Charter schools are making a difference in California
LOS ANGELES, CA — (MARKET WIRE) — October 26, 2006 — California’s charter public school movement is experiencing consistent growth, particularly in inner-city areas, as 65 new charter schools opened statewide this fall. The increase in the number of new students choosing to enroll in charter schools brings statewide enrollment to nearly 220,000 students attending 618 charter schools. As of this fall, close to one in 15 public schools in California is a charter public school.
New charter schools in three of California’s largest school districts, Los Angeles Unified, San Diego Unified and Oakland Unified, accounted for almost half of the new charter schools opened this fall. This follows the ongoing trend of more charter schools opening up in urban communities with high concentrations of under-served kids.
Los Angeles, Oakland and San Diego Unified are also districts whose charter schools have most recently experienced the strongest student achievement gains. Existing charter schools in all three districts are significantly outperforming their district counterparts in middle and high schools. (more…)
I am not sure about California but in Chicago the vast majority of these teachers are proveisional teachers that went through alternative certification and have no formal background in education.
Comment by Saudia | October 30, 2006
The title of the article is somewhat misleading and does not capture the essence of the original article. In order to conclude that they are making a difference we need to see quantifiable data i.e. graduation rates, standardized test scores, and/or college matriculation rates. The current data only shows that more choices for education are available.
Comment by Ofayo | October 30, 2006