Detroit’s charter schools produce dismal test scores

As Detroit moves to turn more of its public schools into charter schools, a new study indicates that students at most of the city’s charter schools have lower scores than those in the public system.

A Detroit News analysis of recent test score data finds:

Of 25 charters in Detroit or nearby, only six had higher math or science proficiency scores than Detroit Public Schools’ average on the most recent Michigan Merit Exam, with most of the others doing worse than the district.

More charters did poorer in reading and writing as well; only in social studies did more charters surpass rather than trail DPS.

These numbers show that the Detroit area charter schools are performing worse than those in other areas.

One of the largest nationwide charter-schools studies found that nearly half of charter schools do as well as the local public school; more than a third did worse, and just 17 percent did better.

Concerns about school quality and student safety have led many parents to move their kids to charter schools or to suburban schools and DPS has lost 100,000 students over the last decade.

In June Detroit Public Schools Emergency Manager Roy Roberts announced that he will scale back a plan, created by his predecessor Robert Bobb, to convert a third of the city’s schools to charter schools by next year.