What exactly is a Charter School?

To start, I want to define exactly what a charter school is. it turns out that Angie, my sisters friend misspoke when she was arguing for charter schools vs. public schools. Charter schools are in fact public schools. The difference between a charter school and other types of public schools is that they operate under a charter, which is a written contract with a state or district. This charter lays out the mission and goals of the school as well as performance standards and goals and how those goals will be measured. It also details the structure of the school; how it will be managed and organized and who the school will serve and how they will be taught.

Charter schools do enjoy more freedom than other public schools. Depending on the rules and regulations of a school district, charter schools can be excused from them as long as they continue to produce satisfactory results.

I was curious where the idea of charter schools came from and why people felt it was necessary to create them in the first place. Apparently, the idea of a charter originated in the 1970's in New England when an educator by the name of Ray Budde suggests that a a charter be given to a small group of local teachers in order to new teaching approaches. the idea when even further to suggest giving a charter to a whole school to explore different approaches. The three basic values that backed the idea were opportunity, choice and responsibility for results.

Today, it seems that charter schools are formed when a group of parents and or teachers are not happy with the current teaching conditions within a school or district. Perhaps the class size is too big, or a group of people have a different learning philosophy that is not being met.

Charter schools definitions and laws vary from state-to-state. To get a better idea of what one might be like in your area check out this list of state profiles.

Regardless of the state, there are seven basic areas that laws are based around:

• Charter development: who may propose a charter, how charters are granted, the number of charter schools allowed, and related issues.
• School status: how the school is legally defined and related governance, operations, and liability issues.
• Fiscal: the level and types of funding provided and the amount of fiscal independence and autonomy.
• Students: how schools are to address admissions, non-discrimination, racial/ethnic balance, discipline, and special education.
• Staffing and Labor Relations: whether the school may act as an employer, which labor relations laws apply, and other staff rights and privileges.
• Instruction: the degree of control a charter school has over the development of its instructional goals and practices.
• Accountability: whether the charter serves as a performance-based contract, how assessment methods are selected, and charter revocation and renewal issues.

I hope this has been a helpful introduction toward understanding charter schools. For more in depth information on any information in this post, check out the link on the right side bar on U.S. Charter Schools.

Tomorrow I am going to look into some different views on the pros and cons of charter schools. There will be a lot to sort through since so many people have different perspectives.