The Indianapolis Star reports that the City has moved to shut down a charter school, Flanner House. The charter school received about $700,000 for students it couldn’t account for. The numbers are a bit odd to me — the Star says:
The letter said the school reported an enrollment of 168 for the 2004-05 school year, but 23 students took the standardized tests required under their charter, or contract.
School officials had explained the enrollment discrepancies by saying some students were incarcerated, on personal leave for family issues or pregnant and on medical leave.
Shrewsberry called those explanations irrelevant.
“A school cannot accept public funds for students who do not attend the school, regardless of the students’ reasons for not attending,” he said in his letter.
I don’t know if the contention is that the school could not prove that remaining 165 students attended the school, or if simply failing to take the standardized test is reason to prohibit funding for the student.
The school apparently had other problems with management, obtaining qualified teachers, and meeting payroll.
So, while this may not be greatly significant in the debate over vouchers, public schools, and alternative schooling methods, it is at least a cautionary tale.
Meanwhile, via the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, there is apparently a study out suggesting that the increase in pressure via No Child Left Behind on testing like ISTEP has not led to improved performance by students, as measured by the National Assessment of Educational Progress. If anything, the study shows, NCLB has a negative effect.
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