I’m a proponent of school choice in general and I think that the best way to provide that choice is through the expansion of quality charters. While Tennessee Charter schools have been among the nations most effective, we do continue to allow failing charters to continue to operate, especially here in Memphis where no charter school has ever been closed down due to poor performance.

Jaclyn Zubrzycki at Chalkbeat Tennessee has a great comprehensive piece on recent legislation passed by the state that would make it easier to close low performing charters. Here’s a bit from the piece, but the whole thing is worth a read.

School quality was legislators’ main concern when they agreed to strict accountability rules for charter schools this spring. Under the new law, a charter school on the priority list will be subject to having its charters revoked after the end of the school year in which it is identified as a priority school. That means schools on the new priority list released this summer could close as early as 2015.

The law also brings consequences for low-performing charter schools more closely into line with regulations about what should happen to low-scoring district-run schools.