Philadelphia doesn't need more charter schools
By Amy Brown and Anissa Weinraub
The problem of educational inequity and school failure is much bigger than teachers and schools: It has to do with access to health care, healthy food, steady employment and a reliable income, early-childhood education, and clean water and air, among other factors. Given this amalgamation of social issues, increasing the number of charter schools will not solve any of Philadelphia's problems.
In a just world, public schools would provide a free, excellent, equitable, and holistic educational environment for all children. In Philadelphia, it is more important that we use our resources to achieve this goal, rather than develop more charters to compete with public schools. Therefore, the School Reform Commission should not approve more charter schools at this time.
As former SRC member Joseph Dworetzky has noted, the district loses $5,500 per student for each transfer to a charter from public school, and $10,000 per student for each transfer from a parochial or independent school. At a time when the district is already operating with a severe budget deficit, it cannot risk losing more money or resources.
Data about the benefits of attending a charter vs. a traditional public school are inconclusive, as are data about charter transfer or dropout rates, according to a recent report by Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY). Also, as to the organizations that have applied to open charters, PCCY reports that these groups' current charters do not reflect the demographics of traditional public schools - there are fewer minority, low-income, and English-language learners on their rosters.
Nationally, a recent Stanford study reported that in reading, 56 percent of students in charter schools showed no significant difference in academic growth between 2010 and 2011. And while 25 percent did significantly better, 19 percent did significantly worse. In math, 40 percent showed no difference compared with the scores of their counterparts in traditional public schools. Though 29 percent did significantly better, 31 percent did significantly worse.
Philadelphia is our nation's poorest big city, with at least 80 percent of our students classified as low-income. Given the
