Struggling Virtual Charter Schools Receive Renewals in North Carolina
Popular charter school options earn low marks for academic achievement
Among the many myths surrounding charter schools is that they provide an opportunity for families to move children to an environment where they can thrive academically.
Most data suggests that, at best, charter schools perform no better than public schools in the area, and many perform worse.
Tennessee’s Achievement School District offers an example.
Recently, a charter authorizing board in North Carolina renewed for 5 years the charters of two virtual schools. The two schools consistently turn in lackluster academic performance.
North Carolina’s original two virtual charter schools will be allowed to stay open for another five years despite being among the lower academic performing schools in the state.
The N.C. Charter Schools Review Board voted 7-3 on Monday to extend the charters for North Carolina Cyber Academy and the North Carolina Virtual Academy through June 2031. Both schools have been popular with families even as they’ve been labelled by the state as continually low-performing since they opened in 2015.
Despite the popularity of the schools, their performance has consistently been among the lowest in the state:
Both Cyber Academy and Virtual Academy opened in 2015 as the state’s first two remote charter schools. It was part of a pilot program created and extended by state lawmakers.
Demand has exceeded the supply of seats even though 2023 at the Virtual Academy was the only time either school didn’t get a D performance grade from the state. They have also not met academic growth expectations on state exams nearly every year.