In "We must weed out Minnesota's lousiest charter schools" (Oct. 18), Neel Kashkari details the research initiative of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, of which he is president. Called the Opportunity and Inclusive Growth Institute, its mission is to "conduct research to inform policies that will improve the economic well-being of all Americans."
Kashkari goes on to highlight the fact that many charter schools in Minnesota underperform and that we are allowing them to keep operating in spite of this.
Conversely, he points out that we indeed do have some exceptionally great charter schools, such as the Hiawatha Academies in south Minneapolis. And we learn from the article that "parents aren't flocking" to such schools. "The highest-performing charters tend to have unused capacity."
Kashkari advocates that Minnesota "rigorously and dispassionately assess charter school performance." Such information would be used to shut down poor performers and give parents tools to search for the best schools.
Great idea. I agree with everything he says. But we need to go deeper than just performance. We need to find the reasons for poor (and great) performance, not only at charter schools, but at all schools.
As a former teacher, I know firsthand the most important factor in determining a student's success: families.
I am sure the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis has the capability to study such things as parental involvement in the schools and their children's lives in general, as well as stable environments in the home — which include quiet study spaces, proper nutrition and proper rest — among other things.
We can and should shut down poor performing schools. But how about finding the cause and effect for poor performance?
