Foundation’s Report Details Charter School Development in Missouri

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which is based in Kansas City, has released a report on charter public schools in Missouri in tandem with the National Alliance of Public Charter Schools.  Titled “Delivering on the Promise: How Missouri Can Grow Excellent, Accountable Public Charter Schools,” it recommends:

• expanding charter schools statewide from the present areas of Kansas City and St. Louis;
• creating a statewide authority to approve and oversee public charter schools;
• clarifying criteria by which the State Board of Education can hold such authorities accountable for performance;
• providing adequate resources for the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education to support its charter school responsibilities;
• closing chronically low-performing charter schools by creating standards of academic performance;
• equalizing resources between charter and other public schools by making charters eligible for all state-funding streams.

Leaders and educators around the country, including President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, have voiced support for the charter school concept, which is designed to provide parents with the best options available for the proper education of their children.  As legislators in various states recognize how charter schools elevate public school education, the goal of helping individual parents and students receive optimal education can be better achieved.