How Standardized Testing is Contributing to the Rise in Charter Schools
More and more charter schools are appearing around the country, and in many cities, such as in Philadelphia (alternet), they are replacing public schools that have been shutdown. For the most part, these school closings are due to low standardized testing scores that give government officials reasons to underfund and close schools (almost always in poor, inner-city communities). These two issues are closely related: schools that have lower test scores generally get less funding than schools who do well; this in turn gives under-funded schools even fewer resources, essentially setting them up for failure.
Both Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama have passed legislation that requires public education to rely heavily on testing (procon). Bush passed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, mandating that public schools in all 50 states annually test their students. In 2009, Obama passed Race to the Top, a program that makes schools compete for extra funding based on test scores. Because of both of these programs, many schools have been forced to shut down, paving the way for private corporations to make profit off of investing in charter schools without thinking of students’ best interests.
The way that charter schools are run allows private companies to invest in them. These corporations do so because they gain huge profits from it. In 2000, congress passed a bill (alternet and shadowproof) that included the New Market How Standardized Testing is Contributing to the Rise in Charter Schools – Massachusetts Education Justice Alliance:
