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Revive the Dream: Session 2 with Micki O’Neil

Earlier this week, we hosted the second Revive the Dream seminar.  Our Fellows were lucky to spend the evening with charter school founder and former Teaching Fellow, Micki O’Neil.   The issue we discussed, is whether kids in charter schools are better off than kids in traditional public schools.

The debate is a good one.  Some people argue yes, pointing to top charter schools in Chicago, such as KIPP and Noble.  Likewise, people also point to the higher average high school graduation rate.  On the other hand, there are also others who argue that kids are not better off in charter schools as a whole, arguing that there are more bad charter schools than good ones, that there isn’t enough data to demonstrate college graduation or general success, and that student performance on tests and homework in chartersoften times isn’t any better than their public school counterparts.

About a year ago this panel discussed the issue.  It’s worth the watch if you have an extra hour.  The panelists ranged from the President of the Illinois Charter Network (“INCS”), who you might guess was an advocate of the charter system, to a member (or former member) of the Teachers’ Union, to Professors Charles Payne a more neutral voice, from the Unviersity of Chicago.

Thanks to Micki for graciously accepting our invite to visit and talk in more detail about the charter debate as well as discuss her model at the charter school she recently founded, Foundations College Prep.

Here are a few photo shots from the session.

*This is Micki discussing her charter model at Foundations Prep

* This is Micki presenting stats on charter schools versus CPS