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TEST RESULTS: MICHIGAN CHARTER SCHOOLS CONSISTENTLY OUTPERFORMING TRADITIONAL PUBLIC SCHOOLS IN GRAND RAPIDS
Charter Schools Outpace Traditional Public School Competitors Statewide in 16 of 18 Recently Released MEAP Test Results
Lansing, MI—As students and schools across Michigan this week close the book on the 2010-2011 school year and begin summer vacation, the Michigan Association of Public School Academies (MAPSA) today released the latest MEAP test results showing charter schools across Michigan significantly outperforming traditional public schools located in the same city or region.
Charter schools located in major urban school districts including Flint, Grand Rapids, Lansing and Detroit produced student proficiency rates significantly exceeding the traditional public schools in those districts on 8 out of 8 reading and mathematics tests. Michigan’s public charter schools’ statewide student proficiency rates exceeded their traditional public school rivals in similar districts on 16 of the 18 MEAP tests taken between grades 3 through 9.
“Michigan’s charter schools create an atmosphere of innovation in education and our students’ remarkable achievement on recent state tests is proof that charters are excelling,” said MAPSA President Dan Quisenberry. “Charter schools thrive on the competition that empowers parents with desperately needed choices for their children’s education. With results like these, there is little wonder that two-thirds of Michigan’s charter schools, most located in urban districts like Grand Rapids, have waiting lists as parents demand better results for their children.”
Students in charter public schools are succeeding in Grand Rapids, earning significantly higher scores on the MEAP math and reading tests than their traditional public school counterparts:
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Students at charter public schools in Grand Rapids achieved an 81.1 percent proficiency rate on MEAP reading tests, 15.7 points higher than the proficiency rate produced in the traditional Grand Rapids public schools.
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Charters in Grand Rapids produced an 83.2 percent proficiency rate in mathematics, 14.4 points higher than the proficiency rate produced by their traditional public school counterparts.
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Proficiency rates among African-American students in charter public schools across the state, including Grand Rapids, were 6 points higher than the statewide average in traditional public schools.
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African-American students have scored higher proficiency rates at Michigan charter public schools than in traditional public schools statewide in each of the last six years.
“Our parents make a choice in entrusting their children to us,” said Keith Lang, President of Knapp Charter Academy’s Board of Directors in Grand Rapids. “Parents, students and our community expect us to deliver the results they need and want. It is a personal privilege to serve the community in a capacity that assists each student in reaching their full potential”.
Charter public schools in Michigan are exceeding their competitors despite the fact they receive significantly less in per pupil funding each year than their traditional public school counterparts. Charters receive $1,329 less per pupil than traditional schools, despite the fact that they already have more competitive cost structures and lower employee costs.
“Charter schools succeed by operating more efficiently and stretching each dollar further,” said Quisenberry. “Despite the funding gap, charter schools are outperforming their competitors while parents across the state are clamoring for more choices.
“Governor Snyder and lawmakers have an opportunity to lift the cap on charter schools this year to empower more parents, better educate more students and to finally put aside silly adult issues in order to put our kids first. The “reinvention of Michigan” cannot truly begin until they seize it.”
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