Charter schools are about to get a reality check. As someone who has observed the breakneck pace [1] of the growing charter school movement up close, Greg Richmond, who leads the National Association of Charter School Authorizers (NACSA), is taking a step back, the Huffington Post reports.
“We didn’t start this movement in order to create more failing schools, but that’s what we have,” Richmond told The Huffington Post. “Hundreds of them.”
On Wednesday morning, Richmond will join New Jersey Schools Commissioner Chris Cerf and California charter schools advocate Jed Wallace at Washington D.C.’s National Press Club to announce a new campaign, “One Million Lives,” that aims to crack the whip on the duds. The campaign will focus on getting states to adopt rules that make failing charter schools close automatically, hold charter authorizers accountable for their schools’ performance, and revamp their authorizing bodies so they become more professional. Initial allies include organizations and philanthropies that have, until now, focused on growth — rather than quality — in the charter sector…