"The data reveal that during the last school year, 307 students were kicked out of charter schools, which have a total enrollment of about 50,000. In district-run schools, there were 182 kids expelled out of a student body of more than 353,000." (Ahmed-Ullah and Richards, 2014)
So I feel like we are always railing against charters. Charters are each very different and to say all are bad school and all are good schools is far too simplistic. But the idea that Charters can easily expel students is rather troubling. By having easy expulsion schools can choose to simply rid themselves of the problem, resulting in students pin-balling school to school. There is no consistency for these children. I also looked at the list of charter schools in Chicago, and most of them are Level 3 and Level 2, so they don't seem to be doing that much better.
Ahmed-Ullah, Noreen S and Alex Richards (2014, February 26). "Charter schools' expulsion rate vastly higher than rest of CPS: Disparity sure to become fuel in ongoing education debate." Chicago Tribune. ://articles.chicagotribune.com/2014-02-26/news/ct-chicago-schools-discipline-met-20140226_1_andrew-broy-charter-schools-district-run-schools
I agree with you it is troubling. I teach at a charter school in Bronzeville and have witnessed students being expelled for a number of reasons not all related to their behavior or truancy. Most are encouraged to keep their grades up and once they fall behind academically are directed to public schools in their community. I personally hope this trend will change, but with the need to show academic superiority over district schools, and maintain a high rate of college acceptance, charters schools may continue this practice :-(. Thank you for sharing.
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