Charter Schools Rarely Closed For Academic Performance: Report:

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Charter Schools Rarely Closed For Academic Performance: Report

Posted: 12/21/11 08:18 PM ET

In nearly two decades, only 3 percent of charter schools have ever been closed for underperforming, according to a new report released Tuesday.

The Center for Education Reform, a pro-charter advocacy group, traced charter-school closures since 1992 in what it called the "first-ever national analysis" of its kind. It found that 15 percent of 6,700 charter schools have been shuttered, and 18 percent of those closures were attributed to academic underperformance. Other prevalent reasons charter schools were closed include financial deficiencies (41.7 percent), mismanagement (24 percent), district-related issues and facilities problems.

The data is key to deciphering whether charter schools -- which are publicly funded but can be independently run -- are holding up their end of the