Charter School Warning List: Poor-Performing Schools Stunned To Land In Hot Water With CPS

Charter schools are the latest — and most surprising — addition to the chorus of voices unhappy with the Chicago Public School's closure process for poorly-performing institutions.

Wednesday, the district's CEO Barbara Byrd-Bennett announced six charters had been added to a school closure “warning” list due to poor performance.

“I am committed to holding all schools accountable for providing a high-quality education to every child, and charter schools are no exception,” said Byrd-Bennett in a statement. “Our parents and children should expect nothing less than the highest quality from all schools.”

CICS-Basil, Galapagos Charter Campus, Ace Tech Charter High School, Aspira Charter High School Early College, Catalyst Charter-Howland and North Lawndale Charter High School-Collins are the half-dozen schools on the list, according to ABC Chicago.

After falling short of the performance metrics in their contracts at least two of the last three years, the six schools must show gains in performance by September or be forced to "execute a remediation plan."

WBEZ said the warnings caught the schools off guard — and they responded by blasting CPS for waiting just hours before Wednesday’s Board of Education meeting to divulge the changes.

“Galapagos believes that this demonstrates a failure of professional responsibility on the part of CPS, and is a prima facie example of the capricious and covert nature of CPS’ closure process,” Galapagos Director of Operations Brad Johnson told the Sun-Times.

Beth Purvis of the Chicago International Charter Schools got a phone call at 10:00 p.m. Tuesday, reports WBEZ; the school leader said she had "no problem" being held accountable, but bristled at being given a heads-up less than 12 hours before the Board meeting.

According to DNAinfo Chicago, Wednesday's bombshell comes just a week after CPS recommended to close two other charter schools for underperforming.