New Charter Report Improves Transparency but Leaves Many Questions Unanswered | Edwize

New Charter Report Improves Transparency but Leaves Many Questions Unanswered | Edwize:

New Charter Report Improves Transparency but Leaves Many Questions Unanswered

by Christina Collins

The release of a new “State of the Sector” report by the New York City Charter School Center will hopefully mark a turning point in efforts to have a more substantive conversation about charter schools’ demographics and performance in our city. As local media have noted, the report is one of the first from within the charter sector itself to acknowledge some troubling data on charter schools that we and other analysts have been discussingfor several years.
Specifically, the report found that, compared to the average school in their Community School District in 2010:

• 68% of charters served a lower proportion of students eligible for free or reduced price lunch
• 72% of charters served a lower proportion of students with IEPs
• 96% of charters served a lower proportion of English Language Learners

The report also noted that the charter sector was experiencing significantly higher turnover of principals, teachers, and students than the district:

• 26-33% of charter teachers left each year between 2007 and 2011, compared to 13-16% at district schools
• 18.7% of charter principals left each year between 2005-06 and 2010-11, compared to 3.6% at district schools
• Charter middle school enrollments shrunk by 5.9% from 2010 to 2011, compared to an increase of 3.2% at district middle schools

As researchers have noted, high teacher turnover in New York City has been linked to negative effects on