Charter Operator Fines Students For Infractions

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One of the city’s highest-performing charter school groups, the Noble Street Charter School Network, has raked in nearly $400,000 over the last two school years by fining students for disciplinary infractions, a group of Chicago Public School students and parents said this morning.

The Noble Street Charter School Network collected $188,647 in fines, which it calls “fees,” during the 2010-2011 school year across the 10 high schools it operates. Since the 2008-2009 school year, the organization has collected $386,745 in detention fees and behavior classes.

Noble schools charge students $5 for behavior infractions like “bringing chips to school” and “not looking a teacher in the eye,” and students with multiple infractions must pay $140 to take a behavior-improvement course during summer school, according to information obtained by a trio of student, parent and legal advocacy groups.

The findings are based on information obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request and were released this morning by the Voices of Youth in Chicago Education, a student-led advocacy group; Parents United for Responsible Education, a parents’ rights organization, and Advancement Project, a community-based legal action group.

more . . . http://www.chicagonewscoop.org/charter-operator-fines-students-for-infractions/