Private Charter Schools

Private charter schools benefit from the entrepreneurial thinking that has spawned them.  Educators, parents and other community leaders can establish private charter schools; they can be sponsored by for profit organizations, non-profit agencies, colleges and universities or private business owners. They are freed from traditional bureaucracy and instead operate according to their charter, which spells out specific achievement goals, which must be approved by the state Board of Education. They are subject to regular scrutiny by a state department of Education.

By contrast, conventional public schools are suffering from the business problem of the 1980s - diseconomies of scale. Insulated from competition, they have become unmanageably large, plodding and unresponsive. In the 1990s, the private sector transformed itself through streamlining and innovation. Some of the inherent elements of entrepreneurship - a specific mission, strong motivation and commitment, intense focus on measurable goals, small size and even shoestring budgets - are now fostering innovation in charter schools across the state.

Teachers that chose to work at charter schools because of the reduced bureaucracy, the high quality curriculum and empowerment in the classroom, according to a recent survey by the League of Charter Schools The flexibility of charter schools allows them to make better use of part-time teachers with expertise in a particular subject area.  Opponent’s charge that charter schools do well because they skim the best students and most involved parents, that they actively exclude special needs children, and that they rob the public schools of already stretched tax dollars.

Funding is based on enrollment, and because capital expenses are not provided by the state, charter schools actually cost the taxpayers less. The introduction of charter schools on the American education scene over the last five years has dramatically influenced education policy and school reform across the country. The charter concept, grounded in the two ideals of choice and accountability, has shaped both the dialog and activity surrounding reform. The nearly 500 charter schools that have opened their doors through the end of the 1996-97 school year, serving eager families, served by dedicated educators, have provided a laboratory in which those two concepts have been tested and proven successful and valuable to creating equitable and excellent education for children.

Despite the success of charter schools, or perhaps because of it, misconceptions abound about what charter schools are (and aren't), what they do (and don't do), and why they work (or, in a few isolated cases, don't). This is due in part to the very nature of grassroots reform, where often community action takes precedence over informational outreach beyond the immediate stakeholders. Doers rather than talkers, charter advocates and operators dig in to get the job done, and let the results speak for themselves. Charter school organizers have been too busy with the rigorous task of educating children and managing schools to spend much time tooting their own horns.

However, some of the misunderstandings surrounding charter schools are due to the blatant misinformation campaigns that some have launched in an effort to protect their vested interest in the status quo. Some administrators, school board members, union leaders and others who feel threatened by the various implications of the charter concept have worked vigilantly to discredit and misrepresent both the intent and implementation of charters. With five years of charter activity on record, however, the research data and analyses are now backing up what anecdotal evidence has indicated from the beginning: charter schools are a success for children, for educators and for American education. Still, the myths persist, and distract from and obscure what should be most important aspect of any educational reform: the delivery of a solid education, founded in equity and excellence, to ensure a solid citizenry.