Editorial

Charter schools often shut down; other schools rarely are

“For the 2013-14 academic year, Michigan had 304 Public School Academys; over the last 20 years authorizers have closed nearly 90 poor performing charter schools. Michigan had more than 3,034 traditional public schools last year; 137 of all public schools were Priority Schools, identified as such for quality concerns. To date, Michigan's primary solution for closing or remediating poor performing traditional schools has been to transfer the worst 15 into the Education Achievement Authority (EAA) ….”

Part of a statement released by Michigan State Board of Education members Eileen Lappin Weiser and Richard Zeile in opposition to their board’s recommendations on changes to state law regarding charter schools.

ForTheRecord says: The mainstream media is not reporting on Weiser’s and Zeile’s concern that the crusade for increased scrutiny and accountability is only being applied to charter schools and not conventional public schools. Charter public schools must not only meet all of the laws that conventional school districts face, they also must meet an additional 61 reporting requirements, according to the Michigan Association of Public School Academies, as per Senate Bill 618, which Gov. Rick Snyder signed into law in December of 2011.

Michigan Capitol Confidential is the news source produced by the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. Michigan Capitol Confidential reports with a free-market news perspective.