‘Poster Child for Charter Schools Done Right’: Report Ranks Michigan No. 3 Nationally

A new report by the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools released today ranks Michigan No. 3 nationally for having the best charter school sector, trailing only Washington, D.C., and Indiana. The in-depth report looked at how each state’s charter schools perform in terms of quality, innovation and growth.

The full report can be found here. This is only the second time that the National Alliance has issued such a report (the first one came out in the fall of 2014).

The report had special praise for Michigan’s authorizers, concluding, “Michigan has a relatively good charter law. In addition, the state has an active Michigan Council of Charter School Authorizers (MCCSA) that has adopted a common set of comprehensive oversight and accountability standards that are not always required by the state’s charter school law. The combination of a good law and an active MCCSA has significantly contributed to the health of the state’s movement.”

“It’s no surprise that Michigan is viewed as a poster child for charter schools done right, and this report bears that out,” said Dan Quisenberry, president of the Michigan Association of Public School Academies. “It’s all about accountability and achievement, and as this shows, our system of authorizing has become a model for how it should be done.

“It’s very significant that we ranked as highly as we did on this report. This isn’t one of those reports where everyone gets an ‘A.’ This is the gold standard of charter school sector rankings, and for us to be considered one of the three best sectors in the country says a lot.

“There are still improvements that need to be made in our charter laws, particularly in terms of funding equity and access to facilities,” he added. “It’s noteworthy that despite those inequities, Michigan’s charter school sector has distinguished itself as one of the three best in the country. Imagine what we could do if the playing field was leveled in terms of funding and facilities. And if we want to drive accountability and achievement to even greater heights in our state, we need to implement an A-F letter-grading system for all public schools – traditional and charter.”

DON’T MISS A BEAT

Sign up for our weekly newsletter

We don’t spam!

Sharing is caring!