State board approves NC charter schools report despite editing concerns

The State Board of Education voted 7-3 Thursday to approve the Annual Charter Schools Report despite concerns that some information, including demographic comparisons between charter and traditional schools, was edited out of the final report.

Posted 8:13 p.m. Feb 6, 2020 — Updated 8:13 p.m. Feb 6, 2020

RALEIGH, N.C. — The State Board of Education voted 7-3 Thursday to approve the Annual Charter Schools Report despite concerns that some information, including demographic comparisons between charter and traditional schools, was edited out of the final report.

The state's Charter Schools Advisory Board (CSAB) reviewed a draft of the report last month and requested several changes to include more positive information about charter schools and better explanations about their student diversity, funding and school grades and how that compares to traditional public schools.

CSAB members said some portions of the report were "misleading" and should be removed or reworked so the information does not "get blown way out of proportion" when the report was presented to the State Board of Education.

Board: 'Misleading' parts of NC charter schools report should be changed so it's not 'blown way out of proportion'

State board Vice Chairman Alan Duncan praised the CSAB and state Office of Charter Schools on Thursday for their work on the report but said he would like to see an analysis of what kind of impact charter schools have on traditional schools. He suggested convening a group to study the issue instead of relying on the charter schools office, which may not equipped to do that kind of in-depth analysis.

The annual report has drawn complaints in the past, including in 2016 when Lt. Gov. Dan Forest, a member of the State Board of Education, called the report "too negative" and requested more data be added to make it "more fair."

Charters are publicly funded and privately run schools that do not charge tuition. They have been booming in North Carolina with more than 100,000 students enrolled at 196 schools across the state. Twelve charters opened this year, and 10 more are expected next year – putting the state's count at 206 charter schools.

State funding for charters has grown from about $16.5 million in 1997, when there were 34 schools, to now more than $674 million.

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