The Big Reason Why Charter Schools Matter
Monday was the start of this year’s national #CharterSchoolsWeek! This annual celebration gives students, parents, teachers, and education advocates the opportunity to tout why they believe charters, and specifically their charter school, are so special.
From innovative teaching methods to student test scores that outpace those of students at traditional public schools, charter schools continue to win at education. In fact, this year, charter schools topped the U.S. News and World Report’s list for best high schools in the country, not to mention the 2017 teacher of the year is a charter school teacher.
While these accomplishments are amazing, these would cease to matter if they didn’t lead to the pot of gold in K-12 education: high school graduation and college admission. Thankfully, charter schools win at that part too.
On Friday, May 5, students from around the country will join together in celebrating National College Signing Day. It’s a special day marking the success of 4+ years of hard work, focus, and dedication. This is an especially great day for students who attend charter schools.
Research shows that attending a charter school makes students more likely to graduate high school than students at traditional public schools. But it doesn’t stop there. According to publiccharters.org, there are more than a handful of charter schools that have a 100% college acceptance rate.
Take the 2017 graduating class of Chicago’s Urban Prep for example. With 1,500 letters of admission from over 170 colleges and universities, the entire class is heading off to college come fall. If you’re thinking that this might be a fluke, you couldn’t be further from the truth. This is the 8th consecutive year that the entire senior class has been admitted to college.
100 percent of Chicago school’s seniors admitted to college: https://t.co/emfYHknbIU pic.twitter.com/o3lB8Bjw3A
— Eyewitness News (@ABC7NY) April 29, 2017
Urban Prep is far from an isolated event. There are many stories across the country of charter school students that are reaching one of the ultimate education goals. On Friday, you’ll be able to experience the moments when their dreams are realized. Tweets of no more than 140 characters will show their elation about the next steps in their young lives. Facebook posts (probably from their parents) will be shared and liked by friends and family members overly proud of their accomplishment. Too-cool-for-school Instagram posts of seniors donning their new college apparel will flood feeds worldwide.
It will be a special moment underlined by the clear fact that their charter school matters because college matters.
