This week, the State Board of Education will review the Annual Charter School Report, approve it, and submit it to the N.C. General Assembly.
N.C. Department of Public Instruction (DPI) staff write,
Eighty-four schools were at or above the district level accounting for 67.2%. This is an 8.4% increase from the preceding year. Fewer schools performed below the district. These numbers become more impressive when it includes an additiona19 [sic] schools. New schools typically struggle academically in their first three years.
Yes, those numbers are impressive. In fact, they are so impressive that DPI staff retorted,
Although indicating positive performance on this one academic measure, the data does reveal that some charter schools are not fulfilling the promise of academic excellence that was part of their approved application. The State Board of Education, through its legislatively created Charter School Advisory Board, must utilize due diligence to ensure those lower performers improve academically for the benefit of students enrolled in those schools.
DPI also admitted that “There are no statistically notable underserved racial groups at the state level.” In other words, the racial composition of students in charter schools is similar to the statewide distribution. There is one notable difference. Charter schools enroll a much smaller share of Hispanic students than districts.
