BASIS Schools

BASIS Charter Schools is a charter management organization that operates a network of tuition-free charter schools in the United States, with schools located primarily in Arizona, where it was founded in 1998. BASIS Charter Schools is a taxpayer-funded nonprofit organization. The schools are managed by Basis Educational Group, a for-profit education management organization with which it shares an address.^[2]

Their schools use a liberal arts curriculum with emphasis on STEM and Advanced Placement courses and exams.^[3] The schools have continually topped U.S. national school rankings put out by U.S. News & World Report and accolades from The Washington Post, though they have also received criticism, most notably regarding their financial transparency and student attrition rates.^[4] In addition to the charter schools, the school network also runs five independent schools located in San Jose, Fremont, Brooklyn, Manhattan, and McLean, Virginia, and three International School in Shenzhen.^[5]

History

The first BASIS Charter School, BASIS Tucson, was founded in Tucson in 1998 by Michael and Olga Block, with the goal of educating students at an internationally competitive level.

In 2003, BASIS Scottsdale was opened. In 2010 BASIS Oro Valley was founded. A year later, BASIS opened three schools at once in Chandler, Peoria, and Flagstaff.^[6] BASIS continued its expansion by opening another school in Tucson and one in Phoenix proper in fall 2012, along with their first non-Arizona school located in Washington, D.C. In 2013, BASIS opened its tenth and eleventh Arizona campuses in Ahwatukee and Mesa, and the second non-Arizona campus was added in San Antonio, Texas. BASIS also began its primary (K-4) program at their BASIS Tucson site. In 2014, BASIS opened in Prescott, AZ. In 2015, BASIS opened its 16th Arizona school in Goodyear, AZ.^[7]

BASIS was featured in the documentary film 2 Million Minutes: A 21st Century Solution, which examined differences between the curriculum of charter schools in comparison with that of conventional public schools.^[8] In response to the documentary, Newt Gingrich and Al Sharpton visited BASIS' campus to deliver speeches on the importance of education in America.^{[9][10][11][12]}

Locations

There are currently twenty-seven tuition-free public charter schools across Arizona, Texas, and Washington, D.C. that are run by BASIS schools.

School accreditation

AdvancED is the parent organization for the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI). NCA, CASI, and SACS CASI are accreditation divisions of AdvancED. Dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide, AdvancED provides accreditation, research, and professional services to 27,000 public and private schools and 4,500 school districts in 30 states and 65 countries.

AdvancED

Criticisms and controversies

Both BASIS schools and their parent organization have been the subject of criticism and controversy. Critics contend that BASIS is failing to provide adequate financial transparency and accountability as it uses for-profit management company.^[13] Another investigative article in 2010 questioned the founders' salary compared to the teachers and other public school administrators.^[14]

Other critics take issue with BASIS's accelerated curriculum and general educational philosophy. Some argue that BASIS focuses too much on standardized testing.^[15] Critics also point out that BASIS' performance in national ranking systems like the U.S. News & World Report is largely a function of BASIS' singular focus on mandatory AP testing, as these ranking systems give great weight to the percentage of students at a school that take AP tests.^[16] Critics also take issue with BASIS's attrition rates (senior classes are typically a third to a quarter of the size of the fifth grade class) and argue that BASIS achieves good test scores in part by weeding out underperforming students.^[17][18][19] In 2013, the District of Columbia Public Charter School Board rejected a request from BASIS DC to expand, citing concerns about the high number of students who had withdrawn from the school since it opened.^[20]

References