Can! Academy won’t reopen charter school in St. Louis
The Can! Academy of St. Louis, a charter school on Goodfellow Boulevard that targeted high school drop-outs, will not reopen this coming fall.
The Missouri state board of education asked the school to close at the end of last school year, citing troubles with leadership, preparation and student discipline.
Richard Marquez, president of the Texas-based CAN! charter school network, told the board that it needed to focus on its existing schools.
“We have determined that improving and expanding our Texas operations requires our full attention,” Marquez said in a letter to the state board.
The board accepted Marquez’s decision during its November meeting.
Can! is one of just a few charter schools that have closed in St. Louis, and the only to close after just a year. Charter advocates said the school had the right idea, but opened just a bit too quickly.
“There’s a lot of lessons learned here,” said Robbyn Wahby, Mayor Slay’s aide on education. “Replication can be done, but it takes a lot of time. You can’t just open up a school. You have to spend the time necessary to attract the right personnel, and find the right location. Those were all things that were rushed. And the rush was in an effort to get a drop out recovery program to kids as soon as possible.”
- ABOVE: Antonio Ford, Keitren Teer and Devan Johnson play around with their cell phones in May at The Can! Academy of St. Louis on Goodfellow Boulevard. The charter school closed at the end of the year.
I have taught at two charter schools in St.Louis city. Charter schools are NOT the answer. A lack of oversight is a serious problem in the way the law is written in Missouri. Too much emphasis on teaching to the test and not enough real learning and development for students and teachers. Charter schools drain away money, talented teachers and good students from the district. Time to get education out of the hands of business and back into the hands of educators. NCLB is a total failure. Repeal it now!