Why Charter Schools Are Foolish Investments for States Facing Economic Challenges

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http://www.alternet.org/education/why-charter-schools-are-foolish-investments-states-facing-economic-challenges



A new report calling for South Carolina to increase the state’s investment in charter schools comes as the state still is struggling to recover from the economic downturn and continues to invest heavily in education reform driven by new standards and high-stakes testing.

Before investing further in charter schools, South Carolina must consider the full picture now becoming clear about how charter schools perform, notably when compared to traditional public schools.

Advocates tend to argue that charter schools provide competition for floundering public schools and high-performing options for parents. However, national studies repeatedly have shown that charter schools produce about the same measurable outcomes as public schools while also demonstrating some disturbing consequences:

Charter schools tend to segregate students by race and class. 

Charter schools under-serve special-needs students, English-language learners and the highest poverty students — all populations that require significant proportions of public school budgets.

Charter schools contribute to student and teacher churn by creating revolving doors for students and teachers between charter schools and traditional public schools, which are under added pressure of always accepting students leaving those charter schools.

The picture in South Carolina is no better, especially when charter schools are compared directly with public schools sharing similar populations, as defined by the state Education Department on school report cards.