Education Next – Marcus A. Winters
“As public schools, charter schools are legally required to educate all students regardless of the difficulties they bring with them into the classroom. Nonetheless, many are concerned that the charter sector fails to educate all comers. Charter schools are often criticized for not enrolling similar proportions of students with disabilities as are enrolled in schools operated by the surrounding district. For instance, a recent report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) found wide gaps between the percentages of students enrolled in special education in charter schools and in surrounding district schools. In New York City, Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña recently implied that the city’s charter schools remove low-performing students in order to increase their aggregate test scores. Last year the New York Times published an op-ed arguing that the seeming success of charter schools in Harlem is driven by their willingness to push out students with disabilities, and that such “charter school refugees” drain district schools of resources.”(more)