January 7: Statement on Boston Foundation Study On Public Charter School Students Outperforming Those in Traditional Schools
Washington, DC - National Alliance for Public Charter Schools President and CEO Nelson Smith made the following statement concerning the report "Informing the Debate: Comparing Boston’s Charter, Pilot and Traditional Schools," issued today by the Boston Foundation.
"The study released today by the Boston Foundation reveals that students in public charter schools in Boston are scoring dramatically higher on standardized tests than their peers in traditional public schools and “pilot” schools. The findings should focus Massachusetts policymakers on two important points:
"First, public charter schools are working better than both of the alternatives offered to Boston families. There are more than 20,000 students on waiting lists for public charter schools in the state, and yet policymakers continue to offer “charter-lite” alternatives instead of the real thing. It’s time to lift the caps on public charter schools in Massachusetts, and provide new, high-quality public school options for the families that need them.
"Second, we applaud the authors’ suggestion that the teaching methods that have been adopted by charter schools should be studied, copied and adopted by other public schools that want their students to be equally successful. But we caution that pedagogy alone cannot produce the kind of performance documented here, and that innovation cannot simply be imposed on a system that resists it. High-performing charter schools have the flexibility to respond to student needs, as well as the toughest possible accountability for performance. Without those factors this exceptional performance might not have occurred.
"Given today’s news, we call on Governor Patrick and legislators, in the strongest possible terms, to lift the caps on public charter schools this coming legislative session."
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