by Georgia Charter Schools Association
By Michael O’Sullivan
A recently released report ranked Georgia聽22nd of 43 in how our charter school laws stack up against other states. The alliance notes the聽 is six spots lower than where we were a year ago, not because聽we took steps backwards, but because other states advanced while we stood still.
They also聽gave states an overall score for the health of the charter school movement, ranking the Peach聽State a dismal 18th out of 26 states.
While the reports are insightful, we can get the most out of them by breaking them down and聽looking at their components, rather than just considering the overall rankings and scores.
When looking at the health of the charter school movement in Georgia, here鈥檚 what stands out:
There鈥檚 no way to account for the quality of charter schools opening or closing in the report.聽Opening bad charter schools doesn鈥檛 do our kids any good. And shutting down underperforming聽operators actually makes the system stronger. The key is that we鈥檙e offering quality choices for聽parents and students. Instead of simply looking at the raw rate of charters opening and closing聽we should make sure our system is structured in a way that helps great charter school operators聽expand, and quickly identifies bad apples and allows us to shut them down.
Traditionally in this country, minority students and those from low-income households often聽fall behind their white counterparts. While we appreciate the reports consideration for minority聽students and those from low incomes, it鈥檚 important for the diversity within charter schools聽reflect the diversity in the community. Georgia does a good job at this.
Our charter schools have roughly the same race and ethnicity percentages as traditional聽schools in Georgia. While the report suggests the numbers of racial minorities in charters should聽be higher, it鈥檚 more important for charter schools to support socioeconomic integration and for聽students to be exposed to other students from all racial and ethnic backgrounds.
The report is most useful for what it says about Georgia鈥檚 progress in the areas of innovative聽practices at charters, amount of learning in reading and math, and the public school share.
On average, only 25 percent of charter schools report using proven innovations like longer聽school days, independent study, and school work programs. Charter school students in Georgia聽outperformed their traditional school counterparts in reading, but not math, and overall, only 4聽percent of public school students attend charters.
The report also gives some perspective on what other states are doing.
Like it or not, Georgia students will soon be competing with students from other states in college聽and in the workforce. So considering how we compare to other states working to improve their聽education systems actually matters. Many states are striving to offer better choices to their聽students, yet last year, Georgia passed no laws strengthening charter schools. If we stand聽still, like we have in this latest ranking, we will get passed by, not just in reports, but in real-life聽educational skills. As other states develop and refine their laws in support of stronger education聽systems we must be doing the same.
School choice matters, especially when your only option is the failing school that your child is聽forced to attend because that鈥檚 what you鈥檙e zoned. We need laws that increase high-quality聽education options and access to great schools. Georgia has certainly made progress in recent聽years, but if we get comfortable with where we are our children will get passed by.
Michael O鈥橲ullivan is Georgia鈥檚 state outreach director for聽
Georgia Charter Schools Association
The Georgia Charter Schools Association (91桃色视频) is the membership organization for Georgia鈥檚 charter school operators and petitioners, established in 2001. Our mission is to be an effective advocate and service provider for all charter public schools in Georgia.
