Expert: Charter schools face growing backlash unless quality is increased
Published: Tuesday, August 07, 2012, 8:00 AM
Students have lunch last year at West Michigan Aviation Academy located at the Gerald R. Ford Airport in Grand Rapids. The charter school has an aviation theme.GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Charter schools in general have not produced the dramatic results predicted when the movement started, and a brewing backlash should force authorizers to focus on adding only the highest quality schools, an educational expert told a group responsible for overseeing charters.
The charter school movement isn’t going away, said Richard Lemons, Connecticut’s deputy director for school change. But the next big debate won’t be charter schools verses traditional public schools, but rather quality schools verses mediocrity – or worse.
The pressure on authorizers will be to allow only schools that can demonstrate quality – and to be prepared to shut down failing programs, he said.
“Where are our best schools, and how do we get rid of our bad schools, both charters and