Charter Schools Institute, State University of New York
March 2002
As this week's Gadfly editorial makes plain, charter schools are under assault nationwide. But supporters of choice in education can take some comfort in the findings of a recent report from the Charter Schools Institute at the State University of New York. In reviewing the performance of New York's 32 charter schools, the Institute concluded that they are largely achieving the goals established for them in the state's 1998 Charter Schools Act. Parents are clamoring to send their kids to charters in New York, where 70 percent of the schools have waiting lists. Most of the charters are located in high need areas and serve students near the bottom of the academic barrel, many of whom make rapid progress thanks to the rigorous standards, quality teaching, innovative practices and personal attention they receive in these new schools. Officials in school districts that have lost students to charters say they're fighting to win them back by copying charters' appealing features and practices. What accounts for such success? Careful quality control. The SUNY Trustees, who leave the day-to-day management and support of charters to the Institute (along with New York's Board of Regents and local school boards), closely scrutinize charter applicants to make sure they're focused laser-like on the bottom line: student achievement. Although it is more self-congratulatory and descriptive than rigorous, this report-which includes a short profile of each of the 22 operating charter schools approved by the SUNY Trustees-is worth a look at http://www.newyorkcharters.org/resource/newchoice_002.html. You can also order a copy by calling the Charter Schools Institute at 518-433-8277.
