We-Can

Achievement First - Myths and Facts

College Readiness and Critical Thinking Skills

Myth

Achievement First effectively prepares students for college.

Fact

Charter school authorizers cite Achievement First schools in NYC for failing to properly support the “development of higher-order thinking and student voice in order to meet the goal of college readiness.”

100% college acceptance

Myth

100% of Achievement First (AF) students will graduate and attend college.

Fact

AF Amistad High School has more than a 50% student attrition rate from 9th to 12th grade and small numbers of high school graduates. 100% of AF graduates are accepted into four-year colleges because AF requires its students to be accepted into four-year colleges in order to graduate.

Serves Latino and ELL students

Myth

Achievement First (AF) schools successfully serve similar numbers of Latino students and English Language Learners (ELL) as their neighborhood school districts.

Fact

AF enrolls significantly fewer Latino and ELL students than its neighborhood district schools. In addition, the AF Bushwick School in NYC was cited in 2011 for treating its ELL students like special education students in a program that, according to its charter authorizer, was “ineffective,” “ad hoc in nature” and “could be seen as violative of federal law.”

Consistently high-performing schools

Myth

Achievement First (AF) has created a network of consistently high-performing charter schools.

Fact

All of Achievement First's elementary and middle schools in Connecticut failed to make Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) for the 2010-11 school year, and two AF schools were identified as "In Need of Improvement."

Educates similiar demographics

Myth

Achievement First schools outperform their surrounding school districts while educating similar numbers of high need students.

Fact

All Achievement First schools have a significant and consistent pattern of serving fewer English Language Learners (ELL) and students with Limited English Proficiency (LEP), Students With Disabilities (SWD), and Economically Disadvantaged (ED) students than their surrounding districts.

Broad community support

Myth

Achievement First has broad community support in Providence.

Fact

Achievement First is supported by a well-funded group of lobbyists working full time to bring its schools into Rhode Island. While there is demand demonstrated generally for charter school seats in RI, there is no grassroots effort in RI to bring this specific "no excuses" model of non-local CMO into the state.

learn more and see the sources

Change.org|Start an Online Petition »