Indiana

?Charter? a New Course? Not So Fast!

By Abdul Hakim-Shabazz

The new report is out on the Mayor-Sponsored Charter Schools in Indianapolis.  Here are the findings…

1. 94 percent of the 2007-2008 Mayor-sponsored Charter high schools are now enrolled in either two or 4-year colleges.
2. Students who usually come to a Mayor-sponsored charter school are academically behind their traditional public school counterparts.
3. Mayor-sponsored charter schools are 7 percent of the schools in the city, but 30 percent of the most improved schools in the city.
4. In terms of increased ISTEP pass rates, a Mayor-sponsored charter school has been the most improved in the city for the past three years.
5. The average improvement in Mayor-sponsored ISTEP+ test scores was 5.8 points, compared to 0.6 statewide and 0.2 points in Indianapolis.
6. 87 percent of Charter school parents say they are satisfied overall with their child’s education.
7. A majority of teachers in Mayor-sponsored charter schools say they felt supported and worked well with their colleagues.
8. Enrollment in Mayor-sponsored charter schools increased 17 percent from the 2007-2008 school year to the 2008-2009 school year.
9. More than 700 students were waiting to get into a Mayor-sponsored charter schools for the 2008-2009 school year.
10. As a whole, Mayor-sponsored charter schools either exceed or matched their state or national peers in academic performance.
11. Seventy-six percent of the population of Mayor-sponsored charter schools is minorities and 72-percent qualify for free and reduced lunch.

And there should be a moratorium on charter schools?  Whatever!

Full post as published by Indiana Barrister on January 21, 2009 (boomark / email).