North Carolina Board to Weigh Fate of Struggling Charter Schools.

Byline: Leslie Brown and Todd Silberman

Dec. 4--DURHAM, N.C.--When Carter Community School opened in 1998, parents and teachers envisioned an educational beacon for at-risk and special-needs children.

Students who had failed in traditional classrooms would be nurtured in small classes by teachers who cared about them. They would study art and history at museums, attend Shakespearean plays and visit the Morehead Planetarium.

As a charter school, Carter operates free of most state controls -- but it still receives a yearly grade from the state ABCs accountability program. Poor student test scores have earned Carter a "low-performing" rating for three straight years.

Today, for the first time since charter schools began operating in North Carolina in 1997, the State Board of Education will consider whether to close a charter because of its academic shortcomings.

Carter and Sugar Creek Charter School in Charlotte will shut down after their five-year charters expire in June if the board agrees with an advisory committee's recommendation not to grant renewals.

In the face of uncertainty, Carter leaders are trying to remain focused on teaching.

"It has been hard, but we aren't thinking about what is going on with the state," said Lisa Yamaoka, Carter's curriculum coordinator. "Our concern is making sure that our students are learning and that we are doing the best that we can do."

The task has been difficult. Only 15.6 percent of Carter students who took end-of-grade tests last spring scored…