Public Charter Schools

Charter schools are public, government-operated schools that offer their organizers exemption from many state regulations in exchange for the guarantee that they will meet certain performance standards. Charter school laws vary widely across the nation with regard to autonomy, teacher certification and accountability requirements.

Examples: 40 states and the District of Columbia have charter school laws, with 2,996 schools serving approximately 741,949 children.

A key resource for charter school information nationwide is the Center for Education Reform website. The CER website provides analysis of charter school laws, and state-specific information about charter schools.

Measures of a charter law’s strength

Number of charter schools permitted;
Creation of multiple chartering authorities and a binding appeals process;
Wide variety of acceptable applicants to run charter schools allowed;
New start-ups permitted;
Formal evidence of local support not required of new charter schools;
Automatic waiver from laws and regulations extended to charter schools;
Charter schools that enjoy relative legal and operational autonomy;
New charter schools guaranteed full funding;
Charter schools given full autonomy over fiscal matters; and
Exemption from collective bargaining and district work rules extended to charters.

(Sources: Center for Education Reform as cited in: ALEC; 2004 Report Card on American Education (p.115))

Error on GetResearchList(): Error: Could not find stored procedure 'Sel_ResearchCategory'.