As charter schools become more prevalent you will hear more very opinionated arguments for and against them. Most of these arguments stem from misconceptions of what a charter school really is. Many believe that a charter school is not accountable, is only for the gifted children, steal money from the public schools or that they are sub-standard to traditional public schools… I know, all over the map right?
A charter school at its very basic level is a public school free from much of the red tape that overburdens our public school systems, allowing them to focus on educating our children rather than documenting every irrelevant minute detail. They are held to the same major laws and achievement regulations as public schools, and often held to an even higher standard based on goals set out in the charter. The charter is essentially a binding agreement between the charter school and the overseeing body, usually the state or local school board. The primary difference between a charter school and traditional public school is that if charter schools do not meet their charter, they can and will be closed.
If you attended a recent Horry County School Board (June 27, 2011) meeting you might be asking how they could have passed a resolution forcing charter schools to answer in writing to any request by the district as if it was acting on the behalf of the school board. Isn’t this pretty much making a charter school just another top heavy, bureaucratic public school spending more time and money on administration than in the classroom where the focus should be? Do we really need to document in triplicate form a schools response to a parent’s complaint about the quality of lunch on a particular day? You would be extremely surprised at the frequency of ridiculous and petty complaints that go to school administrators every single day. Each of those responses takes time to document, time that should be spent focusing on education. But, I digress. This is supposed to be answering questions about what a charter school is…
Charter Schools Are:
Non-sectarian and non-religious Tuition free Required to meet certain state and federal laws Within a public school district and accountable to its board
Charter Schools Are Different Because They:
Are governed by a board of school-elected parents, teachers and community members Can solicit and accept donations and gifts as a non-profit corporation Have control over their class size, curriculum, discipline code, employment practices and other areas of management Are accountable to meet the objectives set forth in their charter Increase parental involvement in schools
This covers the basics, the rest of this article attempts to address some myths you might hear about charter schools and attempts to counter these myths with facts.
Charter Schools are not accountable.
Not only is this statement false, it is way off the mark. Charter schools are held to the same requirements under the NCLB act as any other public school. Just like any traditional public school in South Carolina they must take the PASS test and meet the same state and federal goals. Further, they must meet all objectives set out in their charter. In order to become a charter school the charter agreement must show that the school will differentiate itself from other public schools in one or more significant ways. Failure to meet the charter and/or other state and federal standards results in the closing of the school. This is the one thing that makes all the difference, accountability at the highest level!
While it is true that in most cases a charter school does not answer to the local school district, it does answer to its own board of directors as well as to the local and/or state school boards. For some this doesn’t seem fair because they can’t go to a single controlling person when the response they receive at the school isn’t to their satisfaction. For others, this is exactly why they prefer a charter school, because they aren’t run just like all of the other traditional public schools in their district. Most importantly charter schools answer to the parents. Because if the parents are unhappy they can pull their kids out of the school and send them somewhere else… The power of choice gives parents the ultimate control while lack of choice renders the parents powerless to the whim of the bureaucracy.
Charter schools are only for gifted children.
Charter schools are public schools and as such are open to enrollment to any student. Many have a limited number of spaces compared to the number who apply to attend. In these cases many will hold a random lottery. There is a lot of oversight on these lotteries. Most schools will give preference to siblings of children already attending the school, but do not differentiate by race, gender, religion, intellect or any other category you might put a person into. This myth is simply a misconception born from better results. Your child does not need to be gifted to get into a charter school, but your child might appear gifted because of a better education.
Charter schools steal funding from public schools.
Charter schools are public schools and like traditional public schools are funded according to enrollment. Saying that a charter school is stealing funds from a public school is like saying that Burger King is stealing from McDonalds whenever someone chooses to buy a Whopper instead of a Big Mac. On a nationwide average charter schools receive about 61% of their district counterparts, or about $6,585 per pupil compared to $10,771 per pupil at conventional district public schools. In South Carolina the disparity is even greater with charter schools receiving an average of 49% of conventional public schools or $4,682 per pupil compared to $9,643 for conventional public schools. http://www.edreform.com/charter_schools/funding/
While it is true that the money follows the child meaning that the school the child would have gone to is technically getting less, they are only losing 49% less and 100% less student. It may be a convoluted way of looking at it, but in a sense they are actually getting 51% for free. The reality is this, if traditional public schools were producing a better product they wouldn’t have to worry about the competition. If a charter school can outperform the traditional public schools and do it for 51% less, it sounds more like the traditional schools are the ones stealing to me!
Charter Schools are sub-standard to traditional public schools.
This one is a bit more difficult to address because no two charter schools are exactly the same. I have no doubt that there are some charter schools that are below standards while there are others that far exceed their conventional public school counterparts. The difference is that traditional public schools that perform poorly will continue to operate while a poorly performing charter school will simply cease to exist. As a whole however the evidence clearly shows that charter schools are outperforming traditional public schools. According to a study by Harvard University Professor and Economist Caroline Hoxby called “A Straightforward Comparison of Charter Schools and Regular Public Schools in the United States.”
· Charter school students are 4% more likely to be proficient in reading and 2% more likely to be proficient in math in their state exam · Compared to the nearest conventional public school they are 5% more likely to be proficient in reading and 3% more likely to be proficient in math.
http://www.edreform.com/_upload/research.pdf
Charter schools are shaping education.
Many in the conventional public schools see charter schools as a threat but as charter schools show increasing success using various innovations and new ideas, the better traditional public schools are taking notice. These new ideas are being copied and implemented into the conventional public schools causing a “ripple effect”. This is leading to increased scores for the traditional public schools as well according to a study by Harvard Professor Caroline Hoxby.
http://www.edreform.com/_upload/making_waves.pdf
Charter schools are one of the primary factors to improved education in our county, state and across the country. They are getting parents involved, they are reducing cost and they are creatively finding solutions that have eluded our traditional public schools for generations. Charter schools are helping to bring America back to the top when it comes to education, and that is ultimately the solution to so many other problems our country faces today. Instead of viewing charter schools as a threat, traditional public schools would be wise to view them as testing grounds for new innovations in education and efficiencies that they can leverage to improve the rest of the schools in their district. In an ideal situation conventional public schools and charter schools are working in partnership to bring America back to its accustomed position, leading the world in education.