New study: Charter schools have a 15 percent closure rate
The Center for Education Reform issued a report this morning on charter school closure rates.
From the center:
Refuting assumptions and statements by opponents and proponents alike about the state of America’s charter schools, The Center for Education Reform released today an unprecedented analysis of and data documenting the high level of accountability that marks the nation’s charter schools. The report, ” The State of Charter Schools: What We Know – and What We Do Not – About Performance and Accountability.” finds that charter schools historically have experienced a 15 percent closure rate.
The report is the first-ever national analysis regarding the number of charter schools that have closed since 1992, the basis by which authorizers ensure performance-based accountability.
“All too often, supporters and opponents of charter schools claim that bad charter schools don’t close,” said Jeanne Allen, president of The Center for Education Reform. “The truth is charter schools that don’t measure up are closing at a rate of 15 percent. Regrettably, the same can’t be said for traditional public schools.”
ADDITIONAL REPORT FINDINGS:
• Of the approximately 6,700 charter schools that have ever opened across the United States, 1,036 have closed since 1992. There are 500 additional charter schools that have been consolidated back into the district or received a charter but were unable to open.
• There are five primary reasons for charter closures – financial (41.7 percent), mismanagement (24 percent), academic (18.6 percent), district obstacles (6.3 percent) and facilities (4.6 percent).
• Most charter schools that close for financial or operational deficiencies do so within the first five years, or within their first charter contract. Failing to produce audits, or conduct basic, required oversight is a sure sign that the charter school leaders are not capable of leading a strong organization. Academic closures usually take longer because it takes the whole charter term to gather enough sound data and make proper comparisons.
• The correlation between strong charter school laws, accountability and effective charter schools cannot be emphasized enough. Independent authorizers have full control over how they evaluate charter schools and have their own staff and funding streams. This enables them to create streamlined, effective tools to manage their portfolio of charter schools and close those that are not living up to their contract.
“The quality of charter schools in the U.S. is not as simple as saying ‘there are too many bad charters out there,’” said Allen. “The real story about charter school closures and accountability is that strong state charter laws and strong authorizers give schools a better chance at success because they hold them accountable and can offer them tools to succeed.”
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get schooled blog
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56 comments Add your comment
CharterStarter, Too
December 25th, 2011
12:44 am
Rats. Pardon my misspelled “its.”
Larry Major
December 25th, 2011
12:33 pm
As you know, Fulton Science Academy Middle School is one of three FSA charter schools that collectively floated a $19 million bond issue to construct new schools. What you may not know, is how the investment community views this situation.
The day the BOE voted on renewing the charter, but *before* they voted to deny renewal, Fitch lowered the rating on these bonds from “BBB” to “BB-“ and changed the outlook to “Rating Watch Negative.” If you aren’t familiar with bond ratings, this means they went from medium investment grade to junk bond status in one move.
What’s noteworthy is their reasoning. Fitch didn’t mention the length of the renewal term, but that FSA management was lacking in the area of problem resolution:
“The downgrade to ‘BB-’ reflects Fitch’s heightened concerns regarding Fulton Science Academy Middle School’s (FSAMS) ability to effectively manage the charter renewal process; a fundamental credit characteristic of investment grade ratings in this sector.”
Folks tend to focus on schools’ academic performance, but it’s also important to recognize that, like any viable company, charter schools need someone with the authority and personality to make hard business decisions.
Smartie
December 28th, 2011
1:15 am
@ Larry Major: Do you really want to know how the credit ratings work??? Are you speaking from an insider’s direct experience? If not, you shouldn’t write as if you were the authority in this subject, especially in light of the fact that every single day there are literally Thousands!!! of Wall Street firms firing, laying off, and downsizing due to their lack of efficacy in the financial market at large. Books like “Liars’ Poker” came out in the 2+ decades ago yet your “investment community” didn’t heed and believed in these analysts’ ratings. Do you really really think these analysts’ ratings of ALL the companies listed in NYSE, NASDAQ, etc. are really really real? Is that why the country’s financial markets are in such a big hodge podge of a mess all over?
If FCBOE had such a track record, perhaps all these parents weren’t looking for alternatives to begin with. If FCBOE didn’t fail to meet something as basic as their annual AYP rating!!!, perhaps a survival of this charter school or other schools wouldn’t have a purpose. If FCBOE had a vision for its future the way its neighboring district that’s 2x as big (Gwinnett), perhaps the community would rest easy. If FCBOE was able “to effectively manage the charter renewal process” as you quoted above, perhaps FSA could survive and thrive just like Gwinnett’s very own Math & Technology School. If FCBOE was doing its job in the first place, there wouldn’t be a circus like this.
Smartie
December 28th, 2011
1:45 am
@ Proud Teacher:
What “sumptuous recipes and grains, divisions of schools etc.” are you talking about? Metaphors don’t work here; facts do. Read the “Global Achievement Gap” and read articles about how USA is #25 in the WORLD in Math in 2010, #17 in Science, etc. That’s what the problem is here. Things are irrevocably broken, CRCT drives the curriculum, while NCLB premise doesn’t apply to those students who are on the higher spectrum of academic perfformance. Even FCBOE confessed publicly that things aren’t working and that they really want to push the charter system so that they can start fixing things. Now, they want to reel in a school that does everything they announce they’d like to see in the future Fulton schools yet they want to close it down so that they can have more CONTROL over it. The fight between FCBOE and FSA is nothing about education but all about CONTROL and the fact that FSA took away FCBOE’s thunder because it outshined with its dedicated teachers and administrators who work for less but produce so much more than those at the “traditional schools” because they want the school (thus, the students) to succeed. There’re teachers at such schools who have to moonlight all year round because they take paycuts for an opportunity to teach in this environment. How many in the current system would be willing to do that across the board, including the Administrators (Principals and below)??? As in any organization, success is bred from the top – Leadership. There’s obviously good things happening at the Leadership level for a great majority of its students to honor this school. Students are the customers; and, the customer is the king!
As for your suggestion about Alternative CHOICES like…”a high school for vocational, college prep, and special education diplomas. This is a discussion really worth having”, say Bye Bye to all of that except for the vocational one because FCBOE announced that they have 0 intention of architecting for new magnet or themed-schools. However, it now appears that the new Superintendent intends to build a vocational/technical school in Roswell/Sandy Springs area due to the demographics there where dropout rates were rather high… which brings up an interesting hypothesis… where’s the Money? Could it be just maybe by shutting down more “college prep” schools you cited ( more or less like FSAs of the world) to fund the “vocational” schools like that in Roswell/Sandy Springs area. While vocational and technical training may be much needed to serve some students, one can advocate that a specialized school with highest academic rigor like FSA may be much needed serve some students as well. It’s simply and beautifully called C-H-O-I-C-E.
Finances, Underperformance Top Reasons For Charter School Closures
December 28th, 2011
12:59 pm
[...] and those charter schools that don’t live up to performance expectations – an estimated 15 percent over the last two decades – permanently close their doors, a new report from The Center for [...]
CharterStarter, Too
December 28th, 2011
1:04 pm
@ Larry Major… And you don’t think the media event the day before that was widespread across news networks stating that the superintendent was going to recommend denial had anything to do with the lowered bond rating?