NEA’s charter position is okay but a little like closing the doors on an empty barn. No mention of vouchers? | Fred Klonsky

NEA’s charter position is okay but a little like closing the doors on an empty barn. No mention of vouchers? | Fred Klonsky:

NEA’s charter position is okay but a little like closing the doors on an empty barn. No mention of vouchers?

NEA President Lily Eskelsen Garcia convened an organizational national task force on charter schools to reconsider the union’s statement adopted by the Representative Assembly in Los Angeles 15 years ago.

The wheels of the NEA turn kind of slowly. The past 15 years have seen a lot of battles around charter schools. The NEA board of directors will consider the task force’s document at their next meeting.

I posted a copy of the document last week.

In 2001, the last time the NEA took a national position on charters, there were around 2,100 charter schools operating in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Most were run by parent groups, nonprofit organizations and a few for-profit education companies. About a half million students attended them nationwide.

The landscape has radically changed.

Today, half a million students attend charter school just in California alone.

Between school years 2003–04 and 2013–14, the percentage of all public schools that were public charter schools increased from 3.1 to 6.6 percent, and the total number of public charter schools increased from 3,000 to 6,500. In addition to increasing in number, charter schools have generally increased in enrollment size over the last NEA’s charter position is okay but a little like closing the doors on an empty barn. No mention of vouchers? | Fred Klonsky: