Letters: CTU president errs in her criticism of charter schools

Chicago Teachers Union President Stacy Davis Gates may think that EPIC Academy’s decision to cease operations is a sign the charter school movement is finished ( “The wheels have come off Chicago education reformers’ charter school experiment,” Sept. 24). But for the 55,000 students who attend Chicago charters, the wheels certainly have not “come off” charter public schools.

In Davis Gates’ latest screed against charter public schools, she misses two critical realities. First, charter public schools are under fiscal stress caused by Chicago Public Schools’ inequitable funding, including a 3% administrative fee that is charged to charter schools, a per-pupil deduction for the district’s pension debt and facilities funding that isn’t proportional. Second, charter school “instability” is d