State education officials — and every parent and taxpayer — should be stunned and alarmed by the data noted below, which was uncovered by JLF’s education policy analyst, Terry Stoops. Folks — where is the outrage over the obvious double standard that punishes competition and innovation and rewards mediocrity? (emphasis is mine)
School districts across North Carolina would be forced to close more than 150 traditional schools, if the State Board of Education extended new charter school performance standards to all public schools. That’s the conclusion the John Locke Foundation’s top education expert reaches in a new Spotlight report.
Using test results from the past three years, the report shows traditional schools would make up 155 of the 164 total schools subject to closing for poor performance. Three alternative district schools also would close. Six charter schools would close.
“Under state rules, only the charter schools actually face the threat of closing,” said Terry Stoops, JLF Director of Education Studies. “The new report exposes the way that the State Board of Education systematically created both privileged and disadvantaged classes of public schools.”
“The privileged class comprises traditional district public schools, which operate year after year regardless of how well their students perform,” Stoops added. “The disadvantaged class comprises public charter schools. The state has placed an additional burden on them. They must convince state bureaucrats that they deserve to continue operating from year to year.”
All public schools — a reminder, charter schools are public schools — must be held accountable for the achievement of their students. How many kids will be left to flounder in society because the state’s Big Education monopoly is so successful at thwarting competition?
