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Native Americans turn to charter schools to reclaim their kids’ education

The Hechinger Report

Once the site of an Indian boarding school, where the federal government attempted to strip children of their tribal identity, the Native American Community Academy now offers the opposite: a public education designed to affirm and draw from each student’s traditional culture and language. The charter school, NACA, opened its doors in 2006.

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OPINION: Mocked by his teacher for his ambition as a fourth-grader, this Black father is all-in on charter schools for his own children

The Hechinger Report

“… many Black families are choosing charter schools, where achievement gaps between Black and white students are closing, and longstanding systemic racism is being dismantled by an underlying belief that all children from all backgrounds are deserving and capable of academic success.” What makes them different?

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Despite mediocre records, for-profit online charter schools are selling parents on staying virtual

The Hechinger Report

It’s a virtual charter school, the tuition paid with taxpayer dollars, run by the for-profit charter management company ACCEL Schools. The school’s website promised a “rigorous education experience” delivered by highly qualified teachers. Advocates want to move toward funding virtual schools based on performance.

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Why thousands of Philly families are switching to cyber charter school

The Hechinger Report

Sameerah Abdullah sends her three school-aged kids to a cyber charter school for some of the same familiar reasons that other families across the nation do, including the flexibility and personalization. They are some of the nearly 15,000 Philly students enrolled in cyber charter schools. That is a huge problem.”

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Nearly 750 charter schools are whiter than the nearby district schools

The Hechinger Report

Down the road at Greene County’s other public schools, 12 percent of students are white and 68 percent are black; there isn’t a piano lab and there are far fewer AP courses. Lake Oconee Academy is a charter school. Charters are public schools, ostensibly open to all. Kim Smith, a mother of three in Greene County.

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Virtual charter schools need “bold action” for change, says national charter school advocacy group

The Hechinger Report

The major advocacy group for public charter schools is concerned that failing online charter schools may be hurting the credibility of the movement as a whole. Further, the group argued it might be necessary for virtual (or online-only) charter schools to be separated from the charter designation completely. “We

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How one teacher set a gold standard, and other secrets of top charter schools’ success

The Hechinger Report

In the first story, or revelation, the overarching theme is the stunning amount of sharing that went on about this elite group (roughly the top 20 percent of all charter schools, the schools that add roughly a year-and-a-half of learning for every year a student spends there). . It really didn’t have to turn out like it did.