- Elite public academies like Boston Latin, Stuyvesant High School, and San Francisco’s Lowell High School have long been acclaimed for the top-flight academics they offer to applicants who pass their rigorous entrance exams. Lately, however, they’ve been receiving some unwanted attention: Many now argue that the schools’ admissions practices should be altered to cultivate student populations that more closely reflect the demographics of their host cities. Of course, the issue of race and selective schools isn’t a new one, but it has recently burned so hot that people have begun losing their jobs. PBS’s Newshour, in collaboration with Education Week, has a fine roundup of the debate. One point that’s beyond dispute, however, is that major urban K–8 systems need to do a much better job preparing students of color to enter our best high schools. This objective may call for enhanced gifted-and-talented programming, more funding for magnet schools, and a commitment to a form of academic tracking in the early years. Whatever the ingredients, the aim should be higher-achieving kids.
- Education Week’s terrific coverage has actually earned double honors this week, as we hasten to recommend that you check out their special package on the twenty-fifth anniversary of public charter schools. The series offers a comprehensive vantage on the growth of the movement, including some probing questions about charter school diversity and the surge in philanthropic support that has shaped school choice around the country. Finally, a great video segment compares two charter schools in Minnesota (where the first chartering law was passed in 1991) and California. Of course, if the history of public chartering sparks an interest, you can’t beat Fordham’s ongoing blog series on the subject, which will form the basis of a book to be released this fall.
- There’s plenty of room for soul searching when it comes to charter schools’ first quarter-century, and much of it should focus on the manifold failures of accountability at the state level. Too many state boards proved willing to overlook bottom-dwelling academic performance and unsavory authorizer practices. That’s why the latest news out of Ohio is so encouraging: A report from Cleveland’s Plain Dealer shows that a sweeping charter law approved last year—which pushed firmly for tougher oversight of the sector—has resulted in the closure of some of the worst charter schools in the state. There’s been a particular crackdown on “sponsor hopping,” the devious method by which lousy schools find new sponsors after being dumped by their existing ones. It’s a triumph made all the sweeter by the fact that Fordham advocated loudly and proudly for the law’s passage last year.
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