By Andrew Pillow

Charter schools have been controversial since their inception. The debate has picked up steam as of late as organizations and celebrities like John Oliver have brought the debate to national attention. Now you can add the NAACP to that list.

Saturday, the NAACP board of directors voted to confirm a resolution that pushes for a halt in the expansion of charter schools.

Charter schools are defined as publicly funded and privately operated schools. 6 percent of public school students attend charter schools. The main critiques of these schools are lack of oversight and harsh discipline of students. Another common criticism is the way some charters take public money that could be used to improve traditional public schools.

The resolution doesn’t call for the banning of charter schools but rather increased oversight. Huffington Post explains:

“In its entirety, the resolution calls for a freeze on the expansion of these schools until charter schools are subject to the same accountability as traditional public schools and develop a funding system that does not hurt other schools. It also calls for charter schools to end harsh discipline practices that push out students and segregate high-performing children “from those whose aspirations may be high but whose talents are not yet as obvious.”

This has been met with criticism from many charter school advocates. In the coming days INDY/ED will make an effort to post counter opinions.

Read more here.

See the NAACP statement here.