School Choice & Charters

Controversy Envelops Study on Charter Management Organizations

By Debra Viadero — November 25, 2009 1 min read
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Released just yesterday, Education Sector’s report on charter management organizations, or CMOs, is already embroiled in controversy, according to Alexander Russo over at This Week in Education. Russo picked up on the fact that the final report is missing the name of its author, Tom Toch, Education Sector’s co-founder. He quotes Toch saying:

I removed my name from the report because a good deal of my analysis was removed and, as published, the report does not reflect my research findings on the current status and future prospects of charter management organizations."

So what’s missing? Due to copyright rules, Toch wasn’t able to share the original report with Russo. But, if you compare the new report, “Growing Pains: Scaling Up the Nation’s Best Charter Schools,” with a commentary that Toch wrote for EdWeek back in October, you can find some clues. Both reports raise questions about the capacity of CMOs to meet the high expectations for growth that Secretary of Education Arne Duncan has set for them, but Toch’s commentary gives a much more bleak assessment.

Stay tuned: This story isn’t finished yet.

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A version of this news article first appeared in the Inside School Research blog.