Charter Schools
For decades parents have sought to provide the best education for their children. For some, private schools are the answer, but for the majority,that is not an option . Confronted with dismal academic reports and increasing violence in public schools, parents and educators have long sought alternative learning environments for their children. Long before school choice became a reality, an educator by the name of Ray Budde, began to lay the groundwork. In 1974 he presented a paper called “Education by Charter” that outlined his ideas about reorganizing the education structure. He proposed that “these schools be provided the ability to implement their bold new ideas about education, and report back their discoveries, just as early explorers had fulfilled their charters (Kolderie, 2005).” It was not until the “Nation at Risk Report,” of 1983, pronounced the terrible state of American education that Budde reintroduced his early ideas. Within a few short years the charter school movement was underway.
The charter school ideal achieved several important objectives. Charter schools are public schools, receive the same (state) dollars per student that are received by traditional public schools, and are held accountable by the same test scores and criteria as other schools in the district. Families are able to choose from a variety of public schools, and educators are provided the opportunity to facilitate learning in innovative, non-traditional formats. The concept of school choice also applies to administrators and teachers, who become associated with the school based on their own free will and shared belief in the school’s goals. A popular argument states that charter schools establish positive competition and compel surrounding schools to achieve higher goals.
Charter schools are often the collaboration of educators and parents who share an opinion on the best way to educate. Armed with an idea, they look for sponsors, and create an application to submit to the appropriate authority, as designated by state law. The approved charter school has more autonomy than the traditional schools in the district, but is still required to be non-sectarian, cannot limit enrollment based on race, religion, or gender, and must use facilities that meet the criteria established for public spaces. Each school is governed by a board of directors.
The opportunity to design schools and apply for charters is not limited to local school districts. Public universities, civic groups, and other entities may also apply for charter status and funding. Funds allotted to a student, including those which are designed to supplement disabled or low-income students follow the student and are applied within the specific school that he/she attends. In addition to state dollars, charters are able to seek additional grants and funding (Nathan, 1996).
Minnesota became a pioneer for the school choice movement in the late 1980s, but it was much later, in 1991, that the first charter school was created. Innovators faced staunch opposition from the highly funded teacher’s union, but with the alliance of the Minnesota PTA, the Minnesota Business Alliance, the “war on poverty” agencies, and countless parents and educators, the launch was successful. One of the key elements of the Minnesota choice revolution was the opportunity for students, K-12 to attend schools across district lines as long as there was room, and their attendance did not contribute to racial segregation. Secondary students even had opportunities to attend non-sectarian private schools which had contracted with the state. Another element of Minnesota “choice,” provided the opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to attend college; paid for by their per-student funding. Nearly 10 percent of eligible students participated in the program by 1996, with remarkable results. In many cases, students who were mediocre in high school, thrived in the college environment.
Despite ongoing opposition from the education unions, public support for cross-district choice grew from 33 percent of the general public in 1985, to 76 percent in 1992. The state teacher’s union found that a majority (60 percent) of its members were in favor of the program. The results were hard to ignore; the high school graduation rate increased as did the number of students planning to go on to college. Students who had chosen to take all or part of their coursework in college during their latter high school years, were graduating from college at an accelerated rate. The push for school reform was not limited to Minnesota. In Harlem, select educators were given an opportunity to create “schools within schools “with wonderful results. At first, only 15 percent of students read at grade level; ten years later, 60 percent exceeded the benchmark. . In the thirty years since the “Nation at Risk Report,” there are nearly 6,200 charter schools operating in 43 states (The Center for Education Reform, 2013).
References
Graham, E. (2013, April 25). ‘A Nation at Risk’ Turns 30: Where Did It Take Us? NEA Today.
Kolderie, T. (2005, June). Ray Budde and the origins of the "Charter Concept". Education Evolving.
Nathan, J. (1996). Charter Schools: Creating Hope and Opportunity for American Education.
San Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers.
The Center for Education Reform. (2013). Charter School Law Rankings and Scorecard .
Washington, D.C.: The Center for Education Reform.
Link to More Information about Charter Schools...
https://www.edweek.org/ew/issues/charter-schools/
https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/vouchers/choice/choice.html