Three types of charter schools operate in Georgia. All are public schools that are granted organizational and instructional flexibility in exchange for a promise to meet specific academic goals.
There are conversion charters — traditional public schools that were converted to charter schools. System charter schools are those in a district that has been granted organizational and instructional flexibility. And there are start-up charters, which were started from scratch.
Many charter schools in metro Atlanta scored below state averages but outperformed other public schools in their neighborhoods on the state’s new school report card, an analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution shows.
The grades won’t end the debate about traditional versus charter schools, which are public schools granted organizational and instructional flexibility in exchange for a promise to meet specific education goals.
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The higher scores of most start-up charters than other public schools in their districts are likely to bolster the argument of those who say charter schools are superior alternatives for children in struggling neighborhood schools. Skeptics say charters are too often viewed as a panacea despite the lack of proof that they are better.
That debate reached a flash point last year, when Georgia voters approved a change to the state constitution that authorized the state to grant charters, even if local school boards had rejected them, and re-established a statewide commission to consider them.
On Wednesday, the new state Charter Schools Commission released its own report on charter school performance on the new report card, called the college and career ready performance index.
Like The AJC analysis, the commission’s report, which focused only on charter schools approved by the state, presented a mixed bag: Those charters scored well in closing achievement gaps between groups of students, and they earned points for academic progress. But at the elementary, middle and high school levels, a majority of the state-approved charter schools didn’t score as well as other schools in the districts where they are located.
“A state charter, along with any other mission-driven school serving a challenging or non-traditional student population, may be at somewhat of a disadvantage in terms of how the overall score is calculated,” said Bonnie Holliday, executive director of the Charter Schools Commission.
The state’s new report card gives schools and districts grades on a scale of 0 to 110 and measures standardized test performance, attendance, graduation rates, academic progress and success in closing gaps in performance between groups of students. It replaces the “adequate yearly progress” performance measure of the federal No Child Left Behind education law.
There are different types of charters: conversion charters that were once traditional public schools; system charters that are part of a district that has been granted organizational and instructional flexibility, and start-up charters that were started from scratch, often with the help of a charter management company.
Using the new report card grades and working from a list of state-approved and start-up charters supplied by the state Department of Education, The AJC found that:
-40 of 70 state-approved and start-up charters in metro Atlanta had lower grades than the state average.
-excluding charters with statewide attendance zone, 41 of 67 state-approved and start-up charters had better grades than the average of schools in the district where the charters were located.
-4 of the 5 start-up charters in Gwinnett outpaced the district average.
-8 of 12 start-ups in DeKalb outpaced the district average.
-14 of 18 start-ups in Atlanta Public Schools out-paced the district average.
-1 of 5 start-ups in Cobb outpaced the district average.
-5 of 9 start-ups in Fulton outpaced the district average.
There were individual successes.
For example, the Fulton Leadership Academy, a middle school in Fulton County, got a score of 90.2. That was better than the average score of Fulton’s middle schools, 83.1, and better than the state’s average for middle schools, 81.4.
The school turned to the state for its charter after the Fulton County school board turned down its application last year. FLA’s principal, Gavin Samms, said the school has taken advantage of its flexibility to offer more instruction to students who need it, even if it means providing that instruction on Saturdays.
"A bad grade isn't the end," Samms said. "You've got to learn it. We've got to believe in each other and believe in the kids. There's something there. You've just got to believe it's there, and get it out."
Eric Gandy, an FLA board member and the parent of a student there, said he wanted his son at a school where the expectations were high.
“I understand it’s all about the environment,” Gandy said. “I wanted an environment where it was acceptable to make good grades. It was cool to make good grades.”
While FLA had a strong score, Destiny Achievers Academy of Excellence, a high school in DeKalb, struggled. Destiny’s score of 40.3 was far below the DeKalb high school average of 66.4 and lower than the state high school average of 72.6.
Destiny Principal Charles Maxwell said his school works with students “who would perhaps not be at anyone’s school” if they weren’t at Destiny.
Still, Maxwell said he understands improvement must be made.
“We are very aware of expectations, and we want to be where others expect us to be,” Maxwell.
Charles Knapp, chairman of the state Charter Schools Commission, hinted Wednesday that charter schools that have been around for a while but continue to post low grades could be in trouble.
The report card grades released by the state Department of Education cover the 2011-2012 academic year. This fall, grades covering the school year that just ended will be released.
“When we see the 12-13 data, we need to take a hard look, particularly at some of these schools that have been around for a long time,” Knapp said. “I’m not exactly a no-excuses person, but I’m pretty close to it.”
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