A review of the baseline results from the 1999 API shows that a greater percentage of charter schools than of non-charter schools score in the top 50 percent of all public school rankings. These superior results were reflected at each of the elementary, middle and high school levels. Fifty-eight percent of all charter elementary schools are in the sixth through tenth deciles, as compared to only 50 percent of all elementary schools. In fact, charter elementary schools scored significantly higher than the total population, with 40 percent of all elementary charter schools scoring in the top three deciles, compared with 30 percent for all elementary schools. Only a handful of the charter schools in the 19 states the association covers have received the recognition.
Accreditation allows the school to compete in sports, music and other extra curricular activities.
The school's Executive Director Mark Francis said that the accreditation helps crumble the false perception that charter schools aren't as strong as traditional public schools. About 25 students are expected to enroll in kindergarten through fifth grade. Maureen Parente, chairwoman of the committee behind the charter school for the deaf, said the charter school will be the first school for the deaf in Nevada. Classes will follow year-round schedule and be taught in American Sign Language and written English. Charters ought to be on the agenda for the left, in part because of their potential to serve as tools of racial and economic justice.