Charter School Leadership Council kicks off.

At a time when charter schools are facing serious challenges, the newly formed Charter School Leadership Council is kicking off its first-year agenda, focusing on growth and quality. The council started with appointing a high-level Task Force on Quality and Accountability to help raise the bar of charter school performance. It will develop an action plan for quality growth over the next six months. The charter school movement faces inequities in funding and arbitrary caps on growth, intensified opposition from defenders of traditional schooling and questions about academic performance.

Council chairman Howard Fuller says the council was formed to bring "our large and diverse movement together to find practical answers to those pressing challenges,"

But a recent review of charter school achievement, covering 38 studies over the past five years, shows gains: Some studies found that overall gains in charter schools were larger than those in traditional schools and three studies found charter schools gains were higher in significant categories of schools, such as elementary schools or schools serving at risk students.

www.charterschoolleadershipcouncil.org