catalyst-chicago.org

In Massachusetts, the public can easily find financial information for charters, including how much money they bring in, where that money comes from—including private sources—and how much the schools spend on teacher salaries and other expenses.

In Illinois, it is nearly impossible to get a good read on similar financial information from charters. Doing so, however, could help direct policy, serve as a guide for future charter schools and give authorizers specific information about which charter schools are in financial trouble.

Ask Wanda Taylor to give her view on Renaissance 2010, and you get a brief sigh and a “Where do you start?” Her story is a parent’s-eye view of what has happened since Mayor Richard M. Daley and then-CEO Arne Duncan launched the plan in 2004.

Not really. Over the past six years, the number of students inhigher-performing schools—those in which the majority of students meetstate averages on the ISAT—rose 22 percent.

But Renaissance 2010, Mayor Richard M. Daley’s grand 2004 plan to closelow-performing schools and replace them with better ones (mostly charters), has not been the main spark.