Charter Schools

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Charter Schools

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Overview
Charter School Arguments
Legislative Trends
Research
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Overview

Since the enactment of charter school legislation in Minnesota in 1991, the number of states with laws allowing for charters has swelled to 41, including the District of Columbia. Three states recently passed legislation establishing a charter school law; Maryland passed legislation in 2003, Tennessee and Iowa in 2002. With a 10 percent increase in the 2003-04 school year, the number of charter schools operating in the United States grew from 2,687 to 2,996, an increase of 309, serving more nearly 685,000 students. This rapid growth is likely to continue, especially with the bipartisan support charter schools have seen in state legislatures across the country.

Defining charter schools is difficult given both the variety of the charter school statutes and the types of schools that have been created. Simply, charter schools are public schools that are freed from, in most cases, local and state regulations. A contract is formed when the charter school is created outlining the details of how the school will be organized and managed, what students will be taught and expected to achieve, and how success will be measured. In return for freedom, charter schools are held accountable for student performance - if the goals of the school set forth in the charter are not reached, the school's charter is not renewed.

There is tremendous variation across the states in the degree of autonomy granted to charter schools as well as in the number of charter schools in the 37 states that have established schools (4 states have passed laws but not opened any schools, some with laws dating back to 1995). Most advocates claim that the number of schools is directly related to the type of law passed - those laws granting charter schools maximum autonomy and providing multiple sponsoring entities produce the most charter schools. Based on these criteria, charter school legislation is often referred to as strong or weak. States that provide for blanket waivers, multiple sponsors, etc. are rated as strong. The majority of charter schools are centralized in five states including; Arizona (464), California (428), Florida (227), Texas (221) and Michigan (196).

Advocates contend that charter schools are appealing to many parents and teachers because they are typically smaller than traditional public schools. Researchers have long contended that smaller is more conducive to learning. According to Center for Education Reform's report, Charter Schools 2004: Results from CER's Annual Survey of America's Charter Schools, the average student enrollment in traditional schools is 539-twice the average charter school enrolment of 269.

Another appealing characteristic of charter schools is the fact that they are often have specialized educational programs. Charters frequently operate instructional programs not operating in traditional schools, such as Core Knowledge. According to CER, nearly 27 percent of charters schools report using "Core Knowledge" and/or "Direct Instruction" curriculum. Charter schools also often emphasize particular fields of study, i.e. the arts or technology or may serve special population students including at-risk students, minority students and low-income students. Charters also may target gifted and talented students, teen parents, expelled and court-adjudicated youth and non-English speaking children.

However, critics of charter schools question how well charter schools are monitored when it comes to academics and student achievement. Many argue that over the past 14 years charter school authorizers have failed to hold charters accountable, leaving many students in low-performing schools. In addition, since their inception charter schools have been charged with financial problems and mismanagement. Today, because of widely publicized problems with charter schools state leaders have begun to address these problems and are currently revisiting their laws in an effort to provide greater oversight.

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