NCLB offers Charter Reform

The NCLB law is up for renewal and offers the opportunity for further reform, dragging some recalcitrant "educators" kicking and screaming into doing something useful to help kids who need it. Under the proposed reform, the federal law would push local districts to establish new charter schools to replace failed schools. And make no mistake, Illinois currently lags the country. Chicago has used 29 of the 30 charter schools allowed under the cap, yet has 185 schools which have failed to meet testing targets for five years. There are a 45 more chronically low-performing schools around the state. Sun Times:

At those schools, Bush wants major staff changes or a new governance structure, such as a charter conversion. He's also pushing private school vouchers, an idea largely opposed by Democrats. Now, schools can adopt more modest changes.

"When schools are chronically failing for five or six years, more serious interventions have to occur,"Spellings said while visiting Noble Street Charter High School, one of the city's top-performing high schools.

Illinois has one of the lowest charter caps nationally, according to the Illinois Network of Charter Schools. Michigan's cap is 250. In New York, it's 150. Charters have more freedom over curriculum, budgeting and scheduling than traditional public schools.

"Schools like Noble have wait lists of over 1,000," schools CEO Arne Duncan said during a tour of Noble, which has three campuses and plans for two more. "They are doing something parents and students are looking for."

The president is also once again proposing vouchers to be part of the bill to give poor children and their parents even more choice and accountability.

UPDATE: More good commentary and downstate and Missouri perspective from ResPublica. Also here.


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