A study in Ohio reveals that the state’s charter schools have far lower graduation rates, even when compared to urban districts and excluding dropout recovery schools. This story appeared in the Columbus Dispatch.
“Even when excluding dropout-recovery schools, the four-year graduation rates of charter schools in Ohio are half that of traditional schools, and 28 points lower than the largest urban districts.
“Charter schools not classified as dropout recovery have a four-year graduation rate of just under 45 percent, compared with 73 percent in Ohio’s six biggest urban districts — Columbus, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Dayton, Akron and Toledo.
“Having it be that low is surprising. Very surprising,” said Howard Fleeter, chief analyst for the Ohio Education Policy Institute, who produced the data.
“Given that Ohio charter schools draw most of their students from urban districts, and those urban districts have a higher concentration of poverty than the non-dropout charter schools, the graduation numbers should be closer, Fleeter said.
““The (charter) school numbers look really bad. The question then is to figure out why,” Fleeter said, stressing that some charters are showing high graduation rates, so it’s not an indictment of the whole system. “The next step is, let’s look behind the averages and see what’s going on. There are places where they’re not doing nearly as good a job as others. Why is that?””
Diane Ravitch's blog 
Why bother to look behind the numbers when all you will find is a failed plan based on false assumptions? Those collecting from the privatized funds have no need to stop the flow of cash so they are unlikely admit to failure. It is up to the people of Ohio to demand that the state stop squandering taxpayer funds on feckless privatization of public education and provide an equitable education for poor, minority students, not one that is separate and unequal.
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There are several reasons a family might choose charter over public. One might be the desire to remove their child from connection to the “riff raff” of the local school. Another is about parents who, if their child is failing (often due to poor attendance or “misbehaviors”) decide to switch schools. I’ve seen it happen – “school hopping” to find a situation that works. However, more often than not, it is the child, not that particular school, which is at fault. If a bunch of those children end up at a charter school, their “statistics” will reflect the population.
I suggest looking at the socioeconomic dynamics of the charters and I’ll bet there is an easy discernible pattern. However, even more important is the “hidden” characteristics of the students which are not as easily measured.
You have to live it to understand it.
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I am a parent who chose to enroll my children in a charter school in Arizona. The public schools (when I checked both for grade 1 and grade 9) just didn’t seem interested in providing a top notch education, so I opted for a higher performing school, and it has worked out well for us.
Having read many posts by the very thoughtful Mrs. Ravitch, it does appear that there are many terrible Charter schools, and that parents should demand better when faced by situations like Ohio.
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You make sense, however those who move because of the ‘riff raff’ will most likely select charters with less of those they disapprove of and so select better ones. It is unlikely they will select such failing charters.
The other type of individual, who chooses a charter because the child is failing, would more likely explain the failing charter school. If the charter is heavily composed of students with poor academic habits then the charter will have difficulties, particularly if they are not prepared for some serious work.
I am not fond of for profit privatization but still feel that some of the problems with education concerns the parents and either lack of understanding or the will, which life’s problems might have taken away.
The adult, at some point, will have to be taken into consideration, for without the commitment of the adult to the child’s education the school faces a struggle.
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And as citizens of a nation, we must all take into consideration that without personal commitment to offering and sustaining local neighborhood all-student-incisive public schools our poorest children, and our entire country, will struggle mightily.
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For those of you who can stomach it, Eva Moskowitz will be talking about her book on C-Span2 on Wednesday, 12/27 at 8pm. I didn’t want to be a downer by including this information on Diane’s prior posts about Angkor Wat and Hamilton!
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Beth,
From the sublime to the ridiculous.
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Just saw this and will record when rerun. Will have barf bags and pillows for primal screams handy when I watch. Looks like C-SPAN 2 is having a deformer fest tonight.
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