A new report released yesterday on charter schools finds that California has the highest number of charter schools closed in the country.
The Center for Education Reform, an advocacy group that supports charter schools, reports that of the 1,100 or so approved in California, 187 have closed -- about 17 percent. Nationwide, 15 percent of approximately 6,700 charter schools have closed, according to "The State of Charter Schools" (PDF) report.
Just last week, the California Charter Schools Association called for the closure of 10 under-performing schools, including two in the Bay Area: Leadership High in San Francisco and West County Community High in Richmond.
The Center for Education Reform argues that the closure rates prove charter schools are actually held to higher standards than traditional public schools.
“They must demonstrate achievement or they can go out of business, which means they’ve got a finite period of time by which they can show results,” Jeanne Allen, President of the Center for Education Reform, said.