A lot of folks are weighing in on the state of charter schools this week. The National Alliance for Public Charter Schools ranked all 43 states with charter laws, based on 20 components they say account for strong charter systems.
North Carolina was 19th, up from 23rd last year. The lifting of the 100-school cap and increase in charters counted in the state's favor. (Get the report here; the rating scale is on pages 6-7 and details on North Carolina on page 68-69.)
Meanwhile, the Center for Education Reform issued a survey of the state of America's charter schools, though it doesn't seem to include state-by-state analysis. It does refer to letter grades issued last January, when North Carolina got a C.
Both of the above groups consider charter growth a good thing. Education Week offered a different perspective with an article about concerns related to North Carolina's rapid charter growth.
National School Choice Week rally in Charlotte |
It's no coincidence that all this is landing now. It's National School Choice Week, and I was intrigued by this article in Nonprofit Quarterly tracking down the funding for this national road show. The "choice week" buses outside the Carolinas Aviation Museum and the logo-bearing yellow scarves being handed out at Charlotte's observance indicated there was plenty of money behind the event.
Meanwhile, my personal award for worst choice week observance goes to PR Newswire, which hacked off reporters across the country Tuesday morning by emailing separate notices of every choice week event going on in schools across the nation, clogging inboxes at a rate of about one a minute. I chose to filter their emails directly to trash.