Duncan Takes Listening Tour to North Star... Public Charter School

Today, U.S. Education Secretary Arne Duncan visits North Star Public Charter School Academy in Newark NJ as part of his 15+ state listening tour. North Star is beating all the odds - and the competition...

Fully 100% of its graduating seniors at North Star have been accepted to 4-year colleges (95% enroll in a 4-year after graduation - the highest percentage in the state). This year's entire class passed the 2008 state proficiency exam in language arts and 91% passed it in math (compared to 55% and 35% for neighboring Newark schools and 93% and 82% for all NJ). We're not cherry-picking these numbers either. You can check them for all grades here. Way to go North Star!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Hudson River, NY's charter schools returned some impressive results on the state math exam for grades 3-8. As our friends reported yesterday, "more than four out of every five charters [are] outperforming their respective school districts, according to test scores released this week by the State Education Department." Said Bill Phillips in this statement , “The trend is evident that the more charter schools there are and the longer they are in operation, the more students will meet and exceed grade level standards in math and English. The results not only beat their respective school districts, but compare similarly to statewide results which include all suburban districts.”

Well said.

WS