By Michael V. Cusenza
It’s all but a done deal.
Pending government approval, Success Academy Charter Schools’ Howard Beach Middle School (grades 5-8) is set to open its doors later this year on the site of the Our Lady of Grace Catholic Academy building at 158-20 101st Street.
Charter schools are polarizing publicly funded schools that operate independently from their local district. According to the Education Commission of the States, “charter schools are semi-autonomous public schools that receive public funds. They operate under a written contract with a state, district or other entity (referred to as an authorizer or sponsor). This contract – or charter – details how the school will be organized and managed, what students will be expected to achieve, and how success will be measured. Many charters are exempt from a variety of laws and regulations affecting other public schools if they continue to meet the terms of their charters.”
Courtesy of Success Academy Charter Schools
For more information, visit successacademies.org/school/howard-beach-middle-school/.
According to several published analyses, there is dispute on whether charter schools are more effective than public schools. Several studies find that charter school students are generally more advanced in their education compared to their counterparts, especially disadvantaged children and children of color tend to perform better. For example, charter school students gain 16 days’ learning in reading and six in math over their traditional public school peers, reversing previous trends where public school students performed equally or slightly better. They also receive significantly less funding than public schools.
Advocates of the charter model argue that they are public schools because they are open to all students and do not charge for tuition. Critics of charter schools assert that charter schools’ private operation with a lack of public accountability makes them more like private institutions subsidized by the public.
