Better Results for the Same Money!

The headline in the Rocky Mountain News reads, "Denver Charter Getting Better Results with Same Budget." What taxpayer wouldn't support the efficient use of public education money?

Now go to the state growth model chart and first click on "middle schools" and then check out the different subjects comparing W Denver Prep and Kepner as the article discusses. Note that several charter schools are in the high-performing quadrant (top right).

There are a couple of key factors that charter schools have to make them more likely to succeed. For instance, they hire teachers based on performance and employ them at-will and the charter school is mission-driven with a curriculum that was specified in the charter school application. In other words, they have control over their program and are focused on the end-product: increased student academic achievement. These are components that cannot be replicated in a system driven by the teachers union and curriculum-for-the-masses.

Further, many of the successful charter schools are led by dynamic leaders who don't make excuses for themselves, their staff members or their students. They do everything imaginable to get their students to learn; including giving a huge amount of their time and energy. These leaders focus on changing student's lives, not just getting another funded student in the door for count day or collecting the next monthly salary.