MIchael Mulgrew: The “Inconvenient Truth” Behind “Successful” Charter Schools
Michael Mulgrew is president of New York City’s United Federation of Teachers, the largest local in the nation and in the American Federation of Teachers.
He published this article in the New York Daily News, which is strongly pro-charter and often writes about the “success” of the city’s charter schools compared to its public schools. Mulgrew explains here the secrets of charter “success.”
Careful selection, exclusion, and attrition are keys to charter success.
Cheerleaders for New York City’s charter school sector typically trumpet the academic achievements of charter school students.
But there is an inconvenient truth about these schools that charter supporters rarely discuss, or even admit. The schools’ “success” is due not to any superior instructional strategy but rather to segregation — segregation based on students’ academic and social needs.
Though charters are open to all by lottery, as a group CONTINUE READING: MIchael Mulgrew: The “Inconvenient Truth” Behind “Successful” Charter Schools | Diane Ravitch's blog
