Of the 4,422 public schools in the state of New York, 351 of them are charter schools, set up by groups of parents/teachers to achieve specific educational goals as an alternative to the local public system. They can't charge tuition or be religiously affiliated. They're available as a different educational choice, funded by taxpayers just as other public schools are.
Charter schools have the best results by far. Amazingly, 23 of the best 30 public schools in New York are charters based on test scores. Why do they achieve their mission so much more successfully than traditional NY public schools?
Some say that poverty drags down the performance of traditional public schools. But . . two-thirds of charter student bodies qualify for free or discounted lunches. They're far from rich.
Some say that minorities underperform at traditional public schools because of systemic racism. But . . charters are less white, with 80% of the student bodies being black or Hispanic minorities. Somehow the learning gap disappears for minorities at charter schools.
from WSJ
from NYSED Data
from School Digger
(cont'd tomorrow)
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