More re: GAO Report on Charters and Special Education
Matthew DiCarlo at the Shanker Blog is a careful social scientist who does thoughtful analysis of education issues.
His blog today reviewed the GAO report on special education enrollments in charter schools.
The report got lots of attention for finding that about 11% of students in the nation are special education, but charters enroll only 8%.
James Shelton at the U.S. Department of Education was unimpressed by the disparity and basically brushed it off as “a fine point” and “a relatively small difference” that he would look into one of these days. Of course, given Shelton’s role at the Gates Foundation and Race to the Top, one would not expect him to be exercised about issues in the charter sector. His job is apparently to expand them, not to hold them accountable.
Matthew DiCarlo took a closer look and pointed out that it was misleading to compare national data on special education enrollments to charter data, because so many charters are located in urban districts, where the
His blog today reviewed the GAO report on special education enrollments in charter schools.
The report got lots of attention for finding that about 11% of students in the nation are special education, but charters enroll only 8%.
James Shelton at the U.S. Department of Education was unimpressed by the disparity and basically brushed it off as “a fine point” and “a relatively small difference” that he would look into one of these days. Of course, given Shelton’s role at the Gates Foundation and Race to the Top, one would not expect him to be exercised about issues in the charter sector. His job is apparently to expand them, not to hold them accountable.
Matthew DiCarlo took a closer look and pointed out that it was misleading to compare national data on special education enrollments to charter data, because so many charters are located in urban districts, where the