TREAT PUBLIC SCHOOLS EQUALLY
JLF research shows how traditional public schools would fare under standards imposed on public charter schools

New research from the John Locke Foundation, North Carolina’s leading think tank, shows that Under the new “Revocation of Charter for Lack of Academic Performance” policy, only low-performing charter schools are subject to closure by the NC State Board of Education. There is no equivalent policy for district schools. This study asks how many public schools would close if the state instituted that policy three years ago and applied to charter and district schools alike. The study found that, according to state testing results for the last three years, the State Board of Education would be forced to close 164 public schools. Of those closed schools, 155 would be district schools, three would be alternative district schools, and six would be charter schools. Overall, the state would close 6.5 percent of the total district and district alternative schools in North Carolina and 6.2 percent of the state’s charter schools. The argument is not that the state should close all those schools, however; it is that State Board of Education regard all regular public schools as equals. Substantive policies should apply to all of them or none of them.