Charter Schools

Charter School Studies, Articles, and Commentary

  1. Proposed Amendments to SB 2401 PS – Charter Schools
  2. Echo’s Position, “Why Charter Schools are not the Answer”
  3. Echo’s Analysis of the Charter School Funding Issue
  4. 2010 – Southern Echo and MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable, “Charter Schools are not the right strategy at this time to meet the pressing education needs of the children in the State of Mississippi”
  5. March 2008, 2009 Rand Corporation Study News Release
  6. 2009 Rand Corporation Charter School Study – Exec. Summary
  7. 2009 Rand Corporation Charter School Study – Full Report
  8. June 18, 2009 – Stanford Univ. Study Shows Charter Schools Underperform – News Article
  9. 2009 Stanford Univ. Study: “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States – Exec. Summary
  10. 2009 Stanford Univ. Study: “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States – Full Report
  11. 2008 Univ. of MN Charter School Study: “Failed Promises — Assessing Charter Schools in the Twin Cities” – Summary
  12. 2008 Univ. of MN Charter School Study: “Failed Promises — Assessing Charter Schools in the Twin Cities” – Full Report
  13. August 13, 2009: “Charter Schools Aren’t A Better Answer Than Public Education” – Article
  14. August 18, 2009 – “Lackluster test results for Mayor Villaraigosa’s high-profile schools and Locke High”
  15. 2008 Henig KIPP Schools Outcomes Study: “What Do We Know About the Outcomes of KIPP Schools?”
  16. January 2010 – Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley and Wang, The Civil Rights Project, “Choice Without Equity – Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards” – UCLA Press Release – SUMMARY OF REPORT
  17. January 2010 – Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley and Wang, The Civil Rights Project, “Choice Without Equity – Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards” – UCLA Press Release – FULL REPORT
  18. January 17, 2010: Chicago charter school strategy not working – Article

Charter School Studies, Articles, and Commentary Descriptions

Proposed Amendments to SB 2401 PS – Charter Schools
Here is an offering of critical analyses prepared by Southern Echo and the MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable opposing the efforts to establish a charter school system in MS. The analyses highlights that most charter schools do not outperform traditional public schools; that massive amounts of state funding would be diverted from traditional public schools into privately-owned, privately-governed public-funded charter schools; and that MS proposed charter schools bills do not provide any meaningful parental engagement in the creation of the schools, the governance of the schools, policy formation and implementation in the schools, or meaningful participation in the development of the culture of the schools. The analyses also offer crafted amendments to make the bill better in the event that the bill should be passed.
Echo’s Position, “Why Charter Schools are not the Answer”
Here is a Policy Paper prepared by Southern Echo opposing the efforts to establish a charter school system in MS. The paper highlights that most charter schools do not outperform traditional public schools; that massive amounts of state funding would be diverted from traditional public schools into privately-owned, privately-governed public-funded charter schools; and that MS proposed charter schools bills do not provide any meaningful parental engagement in the creation of the schools, the governance of the schools, policy formation and implementation in the schools, or meaningful participation in the development of the culture of the schools. The paper also highlights recommendations if authorizing charter schools cannot be avoided.
Echo’s Analysis of the Charter School Funding Issue
Here is a Policy Paper prepared by Southern Echo opposing the efforts of US Dept. of Education Secretary Arne Duncan to pressure states to tie the availability of Title I funds for children at-risk to whether individual states adopt new permissive charter school legislation favored by the Education Secretary.
2010 – Southern Echo and MS Delta Catalyst Roundtable, “Charter Schools are not the right strategy at this time to meet the pressing education needs of the children in the State of Mississippi”
This document was prepared February 17, 2010 to be submitted to the House Education Committee charter school hearing, at which Southern Echo was invited to make a presentation. The materials include a short Overview analysis of the issue; a copy of Senate Bill 2933, the charter school bill passed by the Senate and sent to the House, with annotated comments by Southern Echo; and summaries of several major charter school studies.
March 18, 2009 Rand Corporation Study News Release
Mar. 18, 2009 news release – Rand Corp. outlines charter school study results which document that charter schools failed to meet phentermine online goals or to outperform traditional public schools.
2009 Rand Corporation Charter School Study – Exec. Summary
Executive Summary — Rand Corp. study entitled, “Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration and Competition” – which documents failure of charter schools to meet goals or outperform traditional schools. Study sponsored by Gates, Joyce and William Penn foundations.
2009 Rand Corporation Charter School Study – Full Report
Full Report — Rand Corp. study entitled, “Charter Schools in Eight States: Effects on Achievement, Attainment, Integration and Competition” – which documents failure of charter schools to meet goals or outperform traditional schools. Study sponsored by Gates, Joyce and William Penn foundations.
June 18, 2009 – Stanford Univ. Study Shows Charter Schools Underperform – News Article
Article — US News & World Report explains Stanford Univ. study which documents that charter schools in 15 states and D.C. underperformed when compared to comparable traditional public schools.
2009 Stanford Univ. Study: “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States” – Exec. Summary
Executive Summary — Stanford Univ. Center for Research on Education Outcomes study of charter schools documents that charter schools in 15 states and D.C. underperformed when comparable traditional public schools. Study supported by Dell Foundation, Packard Humanities Institute and US Dept. of Education.
2009 Stanford Univ. Study: “Multiple Choice: Charter School Performance in 16 States” – Full Report
Full Report — Stanford Univ. Center for Research on Education Outcomes study of charter schools documents that charter schools in 15 states and D.C. underperformed when comparable traditional public schools. Study supported by Dell Foundation, Packard Humanities Institute and US Dept. of Education.
2008 Univ. of Minnesota Charter School Study: “Failed Promises — Assessing Charter Schools in the Twin Cities” – Summary
Study Summary — Nov. 2008 study by Univ. of MN Inst. on Race and Poverty concludes Minnesota charter schools failed to meet any of their core goals, are not competitive when compared to traditional public schools, and increase racial and economic segregation.
2008 Univ. of Minnesota Charter School Study: “Failed Promises — Assessing Charter Schools in the Twin Cities” – Full Report
Full Report – Nov. 2008 study by Univ. of MN Inst. on Race and Poverty concludes Minnesota charter schools failed to meet any of their core goals, are not competitive when compared to traditional public schools, and increase racial and economic segregation.
August 13, 2009: “Charter Schools Aren’t A Better Answer Than Public Education” – Article
New York Univ. Education Historian Diane Ravitch surveys the research-based evidence about charter schools documented in recent studies to contend that privatization through charter schools is not the answer to the problems faced in traditional public schools.
August 18, 2009 – “Lackluster test results for Mayor Villaraigosa’s high-profile schools and Locke High”
LA Times coverage of just-released research-based evidence documents that students in LA’s much-touted privately-run charter schools are underperforming. These results come out just as LA is moving to greatly expand its charter school program.
2008 Henig KIPP Schools Outcomes Study: “What Do We Know About the Outcomes of KIPP Schools?”
This November 2008 study is an analysis of a series of studies performed on some KIPP schools. The study, entitled “What Do We Know About the Outcomes of KIPP Schools?”, was prepared by Dr. Jeffrey Henig, Ph.D., of the Teachers College at Columbia University. The findings are very interesting and quite significant given the current continuing pressure to consider a KIPP school charter in Clarksdale, MS, specifically, and the effort to revive charter school legislation, generally.
January 2010 – Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley and Wang, The Civil Rights Project, “Choice Without Equity – Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards” – UCLA Press Release – SUMMARY OF REPORT

This Summary of the 130-page Report done by The Civil Right Project, based at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) highlights the devastating data from 40 states and several dozen metropolitan areas with large numbers of charter schools, that charter schools are experiencing greater racial, class and even language segregation today among students of color than existed 30 to 40 years ago. The study shows that charters schools, especially in the western states, have become a “haven for white re-segregation from public schools….” The study proposes remedies to address the dilemma of massive segregation in charter schools.
January 2010 – Frankenberg, Siegel-Hawley and Wang, The Civil Rights Project, “Choice Without Equity – Charter School Segregation and the Need for Civil Rights Standards” – UCLA Press Release – FULL REPORT


This 130-page Report done by The Civil Right Project, based at the University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA) highlights the devastating data from 40 states and several dozen metropolitan areas with large numbers of charter schools, that charter schools are experiencing greater racial, class and even language segregation today among students of color than existed 30 to 40 years ago. The study shows that charters schools, especially in the western states, have become a “haven for white re-segregation from public schools….” The study proposes remedies to address the dilemma of massive segregation in charter schools.
January 17, 2010: Chicago charter school strategy not working – Article

This January 17, 2010 Chicago Tribune article concludes from the data, notwithstanding the great hype for the Chicago school reform strategy, that the Arne Duncan – Mayor Richard Daley “Renaissance” strategy of closing public schools to convert them to charter schools during the past 6 years has not met the promise nor produced the expected improvements in the Chicago schools.

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