charter school
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What is a charter school?
A charter school is a publicly funded, tuition-free school that operates with more autonomy than traditional public schools. In exchange for this increased autonomy, they are held accountable for boosting student achievement and adhering to the provisions outlined in their charters. These schools are typically new, though existing public or private schools can also convert to charter status.
Charter schools aren't usually subject to standard public school regulations, such as certain bureaucratic and union rules. State laws dictate various aspects, including funding, recruitment, and charter attainment. Charters are granted by public agencies, and these contracts establish the school and include financial plans, curriculum, and governance provisions. If a charter school fails to meet the charter provisions, the sponsor may close the school.
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How is a charter school different from a regular public school?
Charter schools and regular public schools differ primarily in their autonomy and accountability. Charter schools are publicly funded, tuition-free schools that operate with greater autonomy than traditional public schools. In exchange for this freedom, charter schools are held accountable for improving student achievement and adhering to the terms of their charters, which are performance contracts outlining financial plans, curriculum, and governance. Unlike traditional public schools, charter schools often have the flexibility to set their own calendars, extend school days, and hire teachers based on their own standards, sometimes without requiring state certification. If they fail to meet the provisions of their charters, they can be closed down more easily than traditional public schools.
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Who is allowed to attend charter schools?
Charter schools are public schools with open admissions, not constrained by traditional public school requirements. State laws dictate student recruitment. When more students apply than can be accommodated, schools typically rely on lotteries to select students randomly. Because charter schools function as public schools, their operators receive charters from public agencies, usually state or local school boards. Charters are performance contracts that establish each school and contain provisions related to financial plans, curriculum, and governance.
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How are charter schools funded?
Charter schools, functioning as public schools, are funded by public agencies, typically state or local school boards. These schools operate under charters, which are performance contracts outlining financial plans, curriculum, and governance. These charters are typically issued for a limited term of three to five years. The entities that grant these charters, known as sponsors or authorizers, are responsible for holding the charter schools accountable for their performance. The Trump administration once proposed increasing funding for the Federal Charter Schools Program to $500 million. About 12% of charter schools in the US are managed by for-profit organizations.
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Who runs and manages charter schools?
Charter schools, most common in the United States, operate under state laws that govern funding, staffing, and charter status. These schools, while publicly funded, often have exemptions from traditional public school regulations, granting them flexibility in hiring and curriculum design.
Charter schools are established via charters from public agencies like state or local school boards. These charters, acting as performance contracts, outline the school's financial plans, curriculum, and governance. The charter-granting entities, known as sponsors or authorizers, are responsible for holding the charter school accountable for its performance. Charters typically last three to five years, and sponsors can revoke them if the school fails to meet the charter's provisions.
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What are some advantages and challenges of charter schools?
Charter schools, publicly funded and tuition-free, operate with greater autonomy than traditional public schools, offering an alternative vision of schooling. They aren't bound by typical public school rules, allowing them flexibility in hiring and curriculum design.
A key advantage is that charter schools can stimulate traditional public schools to improve due to competition, encouraging systemic change by providing more educational choices. However, they face challenges such as potential damage to public school systems by diverting resources. Some critics also claim that the market-based mentality encourages the use of gimmicks for student attraction, which puts fewer resources toward genuine learning.
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charter school, a publicly funded tuition-free school of choice that has greater autonomy than a traditional public school. In exchange for increased autonomy, charter schools are held accountable for improving student achievement and meeting other provisions of their charters. Charter schools are most often new schools that were not in existence before the charter was granted; a traditional public or private school may also convert to charter school status. The term charter school is used almost exclusively to describe government-funded and largely autonomous schools in the United States and in the Canadian province of Alberta.
Origin and operation
In the United States, where charter schools are most prevalent, state laws dictate a range of activities, including school funding, student and staff recruitment, and charter attainment status. Although the details vary by state, some generalizations can be made. For example, charter schools are not typically constrained by traditional public school requirements, such as certain bureaucratic and union rules. In some states such flexibility includes the freedom to hire teachers (including those who lack state certification) on the basis of the schools’ own standards and to adopt specific curricula. Some charter schools may even create their own calendars and set the length of their school days.
The first charter school law was passed in 1991 in Minnesota, and the first charter school was established there in 1992. By 1995 an additional 18 states had passed charter school legislation. The charter school movement then experienced tremendous growth. From the 2003–04 to the 2013–14 school year, the number of charter schools in the United States doubled, growing from 3,000 to 6,000, with the proportion of students enrolled in the schools increasing from 1.6 to 5.1 percent. Charter schools have an open admissions process. When more students apply than can be accommodated, officials typically rely on lotteries to select students randomly.
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Because charter schools function as public schools, their operators receive charters from public agencies, usually state or local school boards. Charters are performance contracts that establish each school and contain provisions related to financial plans, curriculum, and governance. The entities that issue charters, usually referred to as sponsors or authorizers, hold the charter school accountable for its performance. Charters are issued for defined limited terms of operation, usually from three to five years. As a result, if charter schools fail to meet the provisions of their charters, the sponsor may take steps to close them down. Indeed, it is generally much easier for sponsors to revoke the charters of charter schools than it is for authorities to close traditional public schools.
Charter schools have varied greatly in terms of student achievement. The range in charter school quality can be explained by the lack of a uniform design among the large number of schools in operation. Nevertheless, the threat of competition from traditional public schools and other charter schools has forced charter school sponsors and organizers to maintain high standards of accountability. However, research on the actual impact of charter school education on student success has remained inconclusive, and thus the value of charter schools is a subject of intense debate.
Rationales and critiques
A primary reason for founding charter schools was to seek an alternative vision of schooling that could not be realized in the traditional public schools. The market metaphor for choice and competition became an essential part of the charter school discussion. Free-market advocates reasoned that charter schools would either stimulate weaker public schools to improve or would drive them out of the education arena through the process of market-based accountability. In so doing, charter schools could encourage systemic change by providing more educational choices, creating competitive market forces.
Many critics argued, however, that charter schools would damage public school systems by diverting resources. Others claimed that the market-based mentality behind charter schools encourages them to engage in practices that are irrelevant to or unproductive for education. For example, many charter schools attract students by using gimmicks, such as free gift cards, enabling the schools to show progress in enrollment while putting few resources toward genuine learning and the improvement of student performance.
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