In NAACP task force has recommended an end to for-profit charter schools and reforms that would take away much of the autonomy charters enjoy by holding them to many of the same rules required of traditional district schools.

"Having heard all of the testimony, we have concluded that while there definitely are some good charter schools in our country that are serving scholars well … there are some problems with the operations of some charter schools across our country that truly require attention,” said DaQuan Love, a task force member and administrator at a Minnesota charter school.

The report hits on many of the criticisms commonly leveled at charter schools regarding discipline, funding, and selection and retention of only the brightest students.

The release follows a call by the organization last year for a moratorium on new charter schools, which set off a firestorm in the education reform movement, and a seven-city tour by the task force to gather information about charters.

Some NAACP leaders at Wednesday’s convention were candid in their charter school criticism.

Interim President and CEO Derrick Johnson, who said he is “absolutely opposed to charter schools,” urged the group not to “get caught into the charter-versus-public argument” but said he sees the need for charters in urban districts where “state legislative bodies are also undermining public schools as well.”

NAACP advocates should work on the real issue of quality education for all children and “not get sidelined of this one [school] versus that one, when the only one [issue] is the center and that’s quality for all,” he added.

Read the source article at Home |The 74