If EPIC Charter school closes at the end of the academic year , it would become the 15th charter school to close due to financial mismanagement and the inability to attract students over the last six years. It wasn’t until we had a mayor committed to quality education and a board beginning to provide oversight that the extent of issues in charter schools has come to light.

The reasons charter operators give for the closures range from lack of funds, low achievement or their outright refusal to recognize their employees’ vote for a union, as was the case at Hope Learning Academy .

There are some who will equate what is happening at charters with challenges in the rest of the Chicago school district, but the two are not the same. Before allowing any airtime to those who wil

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