CHICAGO — Ten charter schools would be placed on academic warning if the Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday approves a new accountability policy for charters.
Chicago Public Schools officials will ask the board to adopt a new charter school accountability policy that CPS said will ensure that charter schools are held to the same academic standard as the system's other schools, CPS said in a news release Monday.
If the plan is approved at the board's monthly meeting Wednesday, 10 charters will be ordered to turn around their academic achievement or face closure, CPS said.
"On Day One, this policy will allow us to take immediate action on charters that are not meeting our standards, and in the long term it will ensure schools that don't serve children well don't get to operate in Chicago," CPS CEO Forest Claypool stated.
The schools that would go on academic warning are:
• Amandla Charter High School, 6800 S. Stewart Ave. in Englewood
• ASPIRA Early College High School, 3986 W. Barry Ave. in Hermosa
• Betty Shabazz-Barbara A. Sizemore Academy Elementary School, 7822 S. Dobson Ave. in Greater Grand Crossing
• Bronzeville Lighthouse Charter Elementary School, 8 W. Root St. in Bronzeville
• ChicagoQuest High School, 1443 N. Ogden Ave. in Old Town
• Larry Hawkins High School, 801 E. 133rd Pl. in Pullman
• Galapagos Elementary Charter School, 3814 W. Iowa St. in Humboldt Park
• Justice Lozano High School, 2570 S. Blue Island Ave. in Little Village
• Kwame Nkrumah Academy Elementary School, 314 W. 108th St. in Roseland.
• Joshua Johnson Charter High School, 1551 W. 95th St. in Washington Heights
CPS said it will use the "school quality rating policy" to quantify charters' academic achievement. A particularly low score for one year can land a school on the warning list, as well as low scores for two consecutive years, CPS said.
Once placed on warning, the schools will have to submit written turnaround plans, CPS said.
Schools will then have one year to achieve their academic turnaround. If satisfactory improvements are not made, the CPS will recommend that the board to revoke their charter status.
Schools in the last year of their charter contract will receive extra scrutiny, CPS said. If they are on the academic warning list in the last year of their contact, CPS can recommend the nonrenewal of their contract.
Three schools to be placed on this year's list could face closure because they would have qualified for the warning list for two straight years: Amandla, Shabazz-Sizemore and Hawkins, CPS said.
Bronzeville Lighthouse school could face closure as well, as it is in its final contract year and would be included on the warning list if the policy is approved.
CPS is reviewing those schools' turnaround plans. If it determines the schools did not meet the terms of their plans, CPS will recommend the board revoke their contracts, CPS said.
CPS hopes the policy will set a higher standard for charter schools by not allowing poor perfromers to keep their schools or open new ones.
“By limiting charter expansion to only the best operators and proposals, we can be confident that proven programs are being established in parts of the city where quality options are needed," CPS Chief Education Officer Janice Jackson said.
The policy proposal already has garnered some support from aldermen, including Will Burns (4th), chairman of the City Council's education committee (and a supporter of charter schools).
“Wherever parents choose to send their children, our goal is to make sure that Chicago students get a good education,” Burns said.
Ald. Emma Mitts (37th) said the plan will improve the Chicago Public Schools system as a whole.
“I'm proud to lend my support to these proposals because our residents deserve a continued improvement in our area schools," she said. "Opportunities for education should never be diminished, they must always be expanding to reach every member of our community.”
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