Our team is always seeking the latest news in the field of education. As advocates for a quality education for ALL students, we know we have to stay up-to-date on everything that’s going on in the education spheres of our nation…from the White House to the local public school district, from new legislation to the small acts of bravery and kindness made by a single teacher, from the milestones and celebrations to the hazardous injustices affecting many of our nations students.

The past week, there was a common theme of charter schools running through the news. Let’s dig into some of these articles today. And be on the lookout for more charter school information from us in the coming weeks!

Credit Joshua Lott for The New York Times

A Sea of Charter Schools in Detroit Leaves Students Adrift
via The New York Times

The New York Times takes an in depth look at the evolution of charter schools in Detroit. Are there too many of these institutions? Twenty-four charter schools have opened in Detroit since 2011. But are these schools actually able to provide quality education to their students?

“While the idea was to foster academic competition, the unchecked growth of charters has created a glut of schools competing for some of the nation’s poorest students, enticing them to enroll with cash bonuses, laptops, raffle tickets for iPads and bicycles. Leaders of charter and traditional schools alike say they are being cannibalized, fighting so hard over students and the limited public dollars that follow them that no one thrives.”

AP Photo/Susan Walsh

Education Secretary calls on charters to rethink discipline, reduce suspensions via The Washington Post

Education Secretary John King Jr., who once founded a charter school aimed to help low-income students prepare for college, called on charter schools last week to reduce suspensions and rethink discipline.

“In a speech Tuesday afternoon, he plans to say that he is proud of Roxbury Prep, the Boston charter middle school he founded that is now part of the network known as Uncommon Schools. Students have gone on to graduate from college at a rate five times that of other students from similar backgrounds. But he acknowledged the school’s historically high suspension rate and praised its current leaders for trying to craft a new approach.”

Finn, Manno, Wright: The Vision for the Next 25 Years of Charter Schools? Bigger. Broader. Bolder. via The 74

The next 25 years of charter schools should produce all kinds of innovative charters. The goal should not just be to rescue kids from struggling schools, but to give these kids a high quality education while also serving many more.

“The visionaries who developed the concept of chartering as a way to disrupt the century-old public education monopoly of geographically defined school districts held many different expectations for the kinds of schools that this would bring into being: schools for poor kids, for sure; but also teacher-led schools, STEM schools, classical schools, language-intensive schools, art and music schools, schools for children with disabilities, for children with special gifts, for mobile families, and so much more.”

Did any of these articles particularly speak to you? We would love to know your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below: