New rankings
This week, the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools (NAPCS) released its latest review of states’ charter school policies. There’s a ton of interesting information in the report, especially given 2021’s high profile school choice victories across the country. Here in Ohio, specifically, Ohio’s charter law ranked 12th out of 44 states plus the District of Columbia, a significant increase when compared to the state’s ranking in 2021 (24th). The report specifically highlighted Ohio’s recent removal of geographic restrictions on startup charter schools, as well as other policy improvements that have occurred within the last year.
Two from Fordham
The Thomas B. Fordham Institute’s national research team released an important new analysis this week, looking at charter school enrollment and student achievement at the metropolitan level in cities across the country. The findings are largely positive, especially for low-income, Black, and Hispanic students. Additionally, the average metro area saw significant narrowing of racial- and socioeconomic-based math achievement gaps across the board. Huge news. Fordham’s Ohio research arm this week released the brand new, fully updated edition of Ohio Education By the Numbers for 2022. The publication is available for download at the link above, and the companion website is here.
More research
Another new report, “Controlling the Narrative: Parental Choice, Black Empowerment & Lessons from Florida”, analyzes the substantive migration of Black families to choice schools in Florida, the positive academic trend lines for their students, and the growth of opportunity for Black educators in the state. You can download the full report, a joint effort of Black Minds Matter, the American Federation for Children, and Step Up for Students, here and check out a detailed analysis of the methodology and findings from The 74 here.
Not all the news can be good
It would be remiss to simply celebrate the positives during National School Choice Week. Reason online magazine provided some important coverage of the transportation troubles faced by families utilizing school choice. Andy Rotherham from Bellwether Education Partners lays out the high-level data and analysis around the issue, but the centerpiece is a video featuring Christina Laster which illustrates her arduous daily struggle to make sure her son Daniel can continue to attend the school she chose for him.
Collateral damage?
While it may not be on the radar of charter school families, staff, and advocates, the legal battle over the constitutionality of Ohio’s EdChoice voucher program could impact the charter sector here as well. In a recent editorial in the Columbus Dispatch, attorney David Hodges, who will be defending vouchers in court soon, noted that voucher opponents are also charter opponents who likened all schools of choice as “ticks” that “siphon the life-blood” from school districts. Charming. A victory against vouchers could spell future trouble for other forms of school choice as well.
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