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Charter
Schools in Public Education Systems
What Parents
Need to Know About Charter Schools
The
charter school craze has taken the country by storm.
Parents are flocking to enroll their children in charter
schools in a desperate attempt to provide a safe and
positive learning environment for their children.
Waiting list are status quo, and parents of children in
traditional public schools are left wondering if their
children are being left out and left behind. So the question
of the day is ... what are
charter schools exactly and why are they in such demand? "
A
charter school is a deregulated public school. It is
typically authorized, or "chartered", by a public agency.
It also typically has more freedom and flexibility than a
school can get through magnet status or waivers. A
charter school may not charge tuition and it may not
discriminate. Charter schools are typically smaller
than regular schools and they have specific academic targets
and themes to achieve as a part of their contract with the
chartering entity. Charter schools, focus on a new
curriculum approach, a new school organization approach or
some other features that set them apart from what a regular
public school would offer. The key components of a
charter school include flexibility, no tuition, choice,
public funding and achievement goals that must be met.
Differences in state laws account for diversities in the
organization, operation and philosophies of charter schools
nationwide. Charter schools are public schools that
are freed from many state and local regulations and rules
but are held accountable for improving student achievement.
Charter Schools nationwide are
receiving rave reviews by parents and many educators.
In June of this year, the US Department of Education
released two reports entitled,
Challenge and
Opportunity: The Impact of Charter Schools on
Districts, and
A Study of
Charter School Accountability showing that
schools districts are changing their educational services
and operations in response to the creation of charter
schools in those districts. Rod Paige, US Secretary of
Education, during a speech at the Manhattan Institute in New
York City said, "Charter schools offer meaningful options
for parents and their children, ..particularly for those
children who would otherwise be left behind in
low-performing schools." Secretary Paige went on to
say, "The good news is that charter schools do not just help
the students they serve directly, they also prod the entire
system to improve. The districts studied are
responding to competition by listening to parents, adding
programs at other public schools, and more closely examining
student achievement to determine what needs to be done to
improve it. This means better schools for all of our
children." Paige goes on to say, "The President's
education proposal, No Child Left Behind, will move all
public schools towards a focus on results and away from
concentrating on rules and regulations," and "Charter
schools are leading the way by illustrating that the best
way to gain the confidence of families, teachers and
supporters is to focus on quality instruction."
In
A Study of
Charter School Accountability, the first extensive
nationwide study of charter school accountability concludes
that, .. being answerable to an oversight authority,..
promotes internal accountability,.. including productive
working relationships and better coordination among
teachers, administrators and students.
Recently, Charter Schools have come
under negative scrutiny by organizations like the American
Federation of Teachers. If continued examination
proves that charters are not the "new and improved" version
of public education as originally proclaimed, many parents
will undoubtedly feel like they've lost the one hope they
had for a positive learning environment for their
children within the public school system.
Resources:
US Department of Education News:
June 14, 2001 ,
ERIC Digest: Charter Schools: An Approach for Rural
Education? ED425896
The Center for Education Reform
How Do Charter Schools Differ From Traditional District
Public Schools? (excerpt)
Charter schools operate
on three basic principles:
- Choice:
Charter schools give families an opportunity to pick
the school most suitable for their child’s
educational well-being. Teachers choose to create
and work at schools where they directly shape the
best working and learning environment for their
students and themselves. Likewise, charter sponsors
choose to authorize schools that are likely to best
serve the needs of the students in a particular
community.
- Accountability:
Charter schools are judged on how well they meet the
student achievement goals established by their
charter contract. Charter schools must also show
that they can perform according to rigorous fiscal
and managerial standards. If a charter school cannot
perform up to the established standards, it will be
closed.
- Freedom:
While charter schools must adhere to the same major
laws and regulations as all other public schools,
they are freed from the red tape that often diverts
a school’s energy and resources away from
educational excellence. Instead of constantly
jumping through procedural hoops, charter school
leaders can focus on setting and reaching high
academic standards for their students.
Some charter school
programs focus on the basics — reading, writing and the
traditional school subjects that some children struggle
with. Other schools have special arts or music programs.
Some charters look just like other public schools. There
also are dropout prevention programs, adult education
programs, charters that serve Head Start and day care
needs, and charters that work with children who want to
go to college
To read this article
in full,
click here.
Excellent
Information Source to Locate District Schools
National Education
Association:
Charter
Schools
Failures spur review of charter school laws
(excerpt)
Charter schools are part of the landscape of public
education. According to the Education Commission of the
States, as of August 2001 there were more than 2,300 public
charter schools serving more than 500,000 students
nationwide. The Commission reported that 37 states, the
District of Columbia and Puerto Rico have laws providing
funding and permitting charter schools to operate. However,
many of those statutes are being revisited and revised in
light of a number of charter school failures, some with
disastrous consequences for students.
Problems plague some charter schools
(excerpt)
The lack of adequate accountability provisions in some state
laws, and in some cases ineffective monitoring, have led to
significant problems and abuses by some charter school
operators.
AFT.org (American Federation of Teachers)
Charter Schools
(excerpt)
If the goal is improved student achievement, students in
some charter schools are not faring very well. Studies of
charter schools in Texas and Arizona show that there has
been no evidence of improved student performance among
charter school students. A 1998 UCLA study of California
charter schools found that charter schools rarely had
clearly defined goals or standards and none was "doing more
with less" money. In addition, the charter schools exerted
considerable control over the types of students they serve.
Unlike other public schools, they’re not taking all comers.
In Michigan, researchers found that because of weak
monitoring efforts, poorly performing charter schools are
not likely to be closed.
Some
of the trends highlighted in a recent study of Michigan
charter schools illustrate the need for careful oversight of
charter schools. The study found that charter schools were
selective of their student populations (even though they are
public schools), served fewer low-income children
than traditional public schools, and employed
less-experienced teachers.
Education Next.org:
Yellow Flag
(excerpt)
Since 1991, 40 states have enacted laws allowing for the
creation of charter schools—independent public schools
of choice that are freed from many regulations but
accountable for their results. There are now 2,700
schools that serve some 600,000 students in 34 states
and the District of Columbia (see Figure 1), with cities
like Washington, D.C., and Dayton, Ohio, now enrolling
upwards of 17 percent of all their children in these new
institutions.
While such
numbers are impressive—a decade ago there were no charter
schools—we also see worrisome indications that the charter
movement is in trouble. In July 2002, Newsweek
reported that a raft of recent charter “reports find that
too often, charters haven’t lived up to their end of the
bargain.” A Brookings Institution study released in
September 2002 concluded that student performance in
charter schools was significantly lower than that of
district schools on state tests in reading and math.
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