Charter Schools-The Equalizer or the Equilavent?

In the wake of groundbreaking education reform and popular documentaries such as Waiting for Superman, the state of the education gap and the nation’s failing educational system has never been more at the forefront. For many, the answer to failing school districts is the idea of school choice via charter schools. Charter schools, essentially, are privately-operated schools that are funded by public dollars. The persons running the charter schools have full autonomy in governing the schools, but still have to teach to the requirements laid out by the state and/or city. Charter schools have seen success in some areas, but they are still are a relatively new phenomenon. The biggest success stories have been seen in charter schools that have had students from one community and can service that whole community, such as the success being seen in Harlem with the Harlem Children’s Zone.

Baltimore is a city that has employed its fair share of education reform, and currently about 10% of its students are enrolled in charter schools. The question has been whether or not charter schools are an effective solution, as traditionally they do not always make the major gains that many think they do. According to the Baltimore Sun, charter schools demonstrated a 5-percentage point lead in students demonstrating proficiency in reading and math when compared with traditional public schools for the 2009-2010 school year. While the gains are not significant, Chief Executive Officer Andres Alonso remains a major proponent of charter schools, saying that the increase is a sign that the district is moving forward. He suggests that both charter schools and traditional public schools are doing their jobs.

Source: http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-08-23/news/bs-ci-charter-school-performance-20100823_1_traditional-schools-charter-schools-ceo-andr-s-alonso