Opinion
School Choice & Charters Letter to the Editor

‘Thoughtful Review’ Crucial for Decisions on Charters

September 18, 2012 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Baltimore, Md.

Your article about charter school closures raised some critically important questions (“Debate Revs Up Around Closing Low-Achieving Charter Schools,” Aug. 22, 2012).

Here in Maryland, we are saddled with a state law on charter school approval and renewal that is too vague and provides little useful guidance to the local school systems that make these crucial decisions.

But at the local level, the Baltimore city district, under the law the only charter school authorizer in Baltimore, is moving forward on the issue on its own. The school system, in partnership with nonprofit organizations and representatives of charter schools themselves, recently established a promising new process for evaluating and deciding whether to renew charter school contracts in Baltimore.

This new process will rely heavily on data and facts about each charter’s performance, coupled with qualitative observations. The Charter and New School Advisory Board—made up of school officials and community representatives—will make recommendations on renewals to the district’s leadership.

Having this kind of thoughtful review is critical. Baltimore’s 33 charters are an important part of our portfolio of school options and meet the needs of many families.

The bottom line is we must be transparent and rigorous in evaluating all Baltimore schools; we can’t afford to have any low performers. This new process can ensure that the city’s charter schools are each doing a great job of educating our children.

Nothing less should be acceptable—here in Baltimore or throughout the country.

Carol Beck

Director

Supporting Public Schools of Choice

Baltimore, Md.

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the September 19, 2012 edition of Education Week as ‘Thoughtful Review’ Crucial for Decisions on Charters

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School Choice & Charters Tracker Which States Have Private School Choice?
Education savings accounts, voucher, and tax-credit scholarships are growing. This tracker keeps tabs on them so you don't have to.
School Choice & Charters Opinion What's the State of Charter Schools Today?
Even though there's momentum behind the charter school movement, charters face many of the same challenges as traditional public schools.
10 min read
Image shows a multi-tailed arrow hitting the bullseye of a target.
DigitalVision Vectors/Getty
School Choice & Charters As Private School Choice Grows, Critics Push for More Guardrails
Calls are growing for more scrutiny over where state funds for private school choice go and how students are faring in the classroom.
7 min read
Illustration of completed tasks, accomplishment, finished checklist, achievement or project progression concept. Person holding pencil tick all completed task checkbox.
Nuthawut Somsuk/iStock/Getty
School Choice & Charters How a District Hopes to Save an ESSER-Funded Program
As a one-time infusion of federal funding expires, districts are searching for creative ways to keep programs they funded with it running.
6 min read
Chicago charter school teacher Angela McByrd works on her laptop to teach remotely from her home in Chicago, Sept. 24, 2020.
Chicago charter school teacher Angela McByrd works on her laptop to teach remotely from her home in Chicago, Sept. 24, 2020. In Montana, a district hopes to save a virtual instruction program by converting it into a charter school.
Nam Y. Huh/AP