In Chicago’s traditional public schools, the teachers’ union was on strike. Parents were scrambling to find a safe place for their child to stay during what would otherwise be a school day. Some were taking time off, even at the risk of losing their jobs. Low-income students were seeing the gains they made last year slowly fade away as their summer break continued. Police worried that more children may fall victim to gang violence. Here, uncertainty hung in the air.

In Chicago’s charter schools, teachers were working with parents to ensure student success. Schools were exceeding expectations, posting gains in reading and math scores. Teachers were not striking, even though they worked longer hours for less pay. Here, everything was calm; hopeful, even.

Chicago’s charter high schools are a welcome change to the typical Chicago Public School (CPS) story of schools struggling to meet minimal standards full of teachers complaining about intrusive administrators and lackluster pay. In fact, charter high schools in the city have – on average – outperformed their public counterparts. This is not due, as many teachers’ union officials will tell you, to charter high schools selectively picking their students.

Charter high school students, like other students in CPS, come primarily from low income backgrounds (91 percent qualify for free or reduced-price lunch), represent mostly racial minorities (60 percent African-American and 35 percent Hispanic) and must overcome a range of challenges (9 percent are English Language Learners and 12 percent have special needs).

Recently released 2012 ACT scores confirm that charter high schools are succeeding where public high schools are failing. Every CPS high school requires eleventh graders to take the ACT, a widely known, reputable college readiness exam. Not surprisingly, selective schools – those who admit most of their students based on previous test scores, entrance exams, and behavior in middle school – are leading the pack and setting the bar.

But among high schools that are open to all, charter schools continue to dominate the top of the rankings.

In 2012, charter schools held the top nine spots for open-enrollment, non-selective public high schools in Chicago. Another charter school was in a three-way tie for tenth. The Noble Network of Charter Schools led the pack, with nine schools in the top 10, one of which was included in the tie. The average ACT score for charter schools in the top 10 was 20.6, with Noble Network’s UIC College Prep campus scoring 21.9 – the highest-ever average at an open-enrollment, non-selective CPS high school.

Not only are charter schools outperforming their peers on the ACT, a comparison of Chicago’s top 10 charter high schools to the top 10 open-enrollment, non-selective, traditional public high schools shows that charter schools’ pace of improvement is significantly greater. Since 2007, top charter school scores have increased by 17 percent, while the top traditional schools have gained nearly 5 percent.

Charter schools offer a real alternative to Chicago parents. They are places where parents can rest assured knowing that their child is receiving the education they deserve. It is unfortunate then that only 41 charter schools have been approved so far – 34 still remain open. These openings are not due to lack of demand, but to the actions of the Chicago Teacher’s Union, who work day-in and day-out to make sure no more charters open in the city.

It is this same resistance to change that propelled the Union to strike. Despite numerous international and national studies showing that teachers’ strikes are bad for students, the Union held fast to its desire to increase pay , to maintain its unsustainable level of benefits, and – for all intents and purposes – to not be evaluated using scientifically-proven criteria.

Charter schools offer a real alternative for Chicago’s children. A path to better education for the public school students of Chicago has already begun. State and local officials must work side by side to offer more options to Chicago parents eager to find a place where their children can truly succeed.

Main Points

• Charter schools held the top nine spots for 2012 ACT scores for open-enrollment, non-selective public high schools in Chicago. Another ended up in a three-way tie for tenth.

• Noble Network’s UIC College Prep campus had the highest-ever average at an open-enrollment, non-selective CPS high school.

• Top charter schools scores have increase 17 percent since 2007 while traditional public schools have gained only 5 percent.
  

• Top 10 open-enrollment, non-selective high school scores have increased 11 percent since 2007. The number of charter schools in the top 10 has increased from 3 to 9 during this same time period.