Study says performance boost is minimal in Chicago charter high schools

A group opposed to aChicago Public Schools plan to close and reorganize schools has released two studies saying the efforts have not led to improvements and have focused on poor neighborhoods undergoing gentrification. The reports were released by the Grassroots Education Movement, a coalition of community, parent and teacher groups opposing plans to close and reorganize 22 schools under the district's Renaissance 2010 initiative. To read The Chicago Tribune article, click here RELATED: The Chicago charter school difference isn't much of a difference, at least not on the high school level, a study indicates. Chicago's charter high schools enroll fewer poor, special education and limited-English students; average nine more days of school a year and 40 more minutes of classes a day -- yet don't perform much better than city neighborhood high schools, according to the report, "The Charter Difference,'' by Eric Gutstein of the University of Illinois-Chicago and former charter teacher Liz Brown. To read The Chicago Sun-Times article, click here.