What Are Charter Schools? By: Anthony Pellegrino

This school year in the U.S., many students are attending what supporters call the classrooms of the future–highly specialized, self-governing public schools customized to the needs of their pupils, not the rules of the educrats. Such schools operate under a contract–the charter–with a local school district. They set their own rules and hire their own employees, but they cannot charge tuition, discriminate, or promote religion. They are called “charter schools” and their growth is phenomenal.

Charter schools are independent public schools, designed and operated by educators, parents, community leaders, educational entrepreneurs and others. They are sponsored by designated local or state educational organizations who monitor their quality and integrity, but allow them to operate freed from the traditional bureaucratic and regulatory red tape that hog-ties public schools. Because of this freedom, charter schools design programs tailored to educational excellence and community needs. They are also held to the highest level of accountability.

Charter schools are held accountable for how well they educate children in a safe and responsible environment. They are judged on how well they meet the student achievement goals established by their charter, and how well they manage the fiscal and operational responsibilities entrusted to them. If they fail to meet the highest regard for equity and excellence, they are closed!.

One of the interesting aspects of the charter school is that parents, teachers community groups or individuals interested in creating a better educational opportunity for children can start a charter school. Students choose to attend, and teachers choose to teach at charter schools.

These charter schools are becoming increasingly popular because they provide an opportunity for better child-centered education. They provide the chance for communities to create the greatest range of educational choices for their children. Operators have the opportunity and the incentive to create schools that provide new and better service to students.

Charter schools are gublic schools-Like public schools, they are funded according to enrollment and receive funding from the district and the state according to the number of students attending. However too often they do not receive the same amount of money as does a regular public school so that the charter school must seek creative funding to keep its door open.

It is sometimes claimed that charter schools take money from public schools, but charter schools are public schools. When a child leaves for a charter school the money follows that child. This benefits the public school system by instilling a sense of accountability into the system regarding its service to the student and parents and its fiscal obligations.

Charter schools provide a variety of services to children that places healthy pressure on the system to provide equal or better services. They are a haven for children who have had bad educational experiences elsewhere. Charter schools are very popular with students, parents, and teachers. Families and teachers are seeking out charter schools primarily for educational reasons. For teachers the charter school offers a special personal fuffillment and professional reward. The charter schools appear to fulfill the cry for a higher standard of education

Some charters have converted from traditional schools. Some are run by parents and follow a Montessori or Waldorf educational tradition. Many are home schools. Some are run by nonprofit groups, others by for-profit. Most are run by people who want something better than a state school system education

As of September,1999, 31 states and the District of Columbia have nearly 1,700 operating charter schools, serving 350,00 students. Maybe charters are the schools of the future. Perhaps 12arents unhal2l2y with the 12resent system should further investigate the viability of starting a charter school in the CNMI.