National News

Local News

Editorial

Press Releases

RSS Subscribe

Multimedia Archive

Read the full editorial at CommercialAppeal.com >

The recent announcement by KIPP Memphis that it plans to open two charter schools in 2012 can be a cause for celebration or cause for concern.

Those polar opinions are based on one's perspective on whether charter schools are an important weapon in the fight to improve student academic achievement or if charters undermine public schools.

Looking at the track record of the majority of charter schools, they indeed have a place in the student achievement fight.

KIPP (Knowledge Is Power Program) plans to open a charter elementary school and a second middle school. KIPP's goal is to have the two middle schools to eventually act as feeder schools for one of the strongest public high schools in Memphis.

There are more than 90 KIPP schools in 20 states and the District of Columbia serving more than 27,000 students. The program's ultimate goal is to prepare students to enroll and succeed in college.

Students in KIPP schools, including KIPP Memphis, have shown consistent improvement in academic achievement on standardized tests.

The state legislature this year eliminated the cap on the number of charter schools and did away with rules that said only economically deprived children in failing schools could attend.

Put those charter school changes in the context of academic and teacher-efficiency reform efforts under way by the administration of Memphis City Schools Supt. Kriner Cash, and worries about the impact of charters on city schools are within reason.

Charter schools won't solve what ails public schools. A piece of that puzzle involves getting the parents of children in failing schools involved in their child's education. Maybe public school parents should also be required to take and pass standardized education involvement tests.

And not all charters are making the grade. For example, the city school board could be forced to close three charter schools for failing to make adequate yearly progress on test scores.

Still, charters are educational laboratories that, in collaboration with city schools, can provide strategies to enhance Cash's reform efforts.

Charters allow students in failing schools to enter a new academic environment that, for the most part, means they'll improve academically and be prepared to pursue a college education.