Q: How do charter schools offer families greater freedom to families, teachers, and communities?

A: Charter schools give families the opportunity to choose the school that best fits their child’s educational needs. Teachers choose to create and work at schools that are able to shape the best working and learning environment for their students and themselves. Likewise, charter sponsors choose to authorize schools that are likely to best serve the needs of the students in a particular community.

Q: How are charter schools accountable to state education standards?

Charter schools are required to meet all state education standards. In addition, charter schools are judged on how well they meet the student achievement goals established by the charter itself. Charter schools must perform at or far above rigorous fiscal and managerial standards.

Q: How many charter schools are there?

A: 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.

Q: How are charter schools funded?

A: Charter schools are public schools. Like district 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, the dollar amounts and implementation of funds in charter schools varies from traditional counterparts. Nationwide, on average, charter schools are funded at 61 percent of their district counterparts, averaging $6,585 per pupil compared to $10,771 per pupil at conventional district public schools. In addition, most charter schools do not receive funding to cover the cost of securing a facility. This forces charter schools to seek funding in less traditional and more creative ways, including partnerships with local businesses and universities. This additional fundraising is primarily important in start-up fees.

Q: Can charter schools teach whatever they please?

A: Not precisely. Although free to design their own curriculums, charter schools, as previously stated, must meet or exceed state educational requirements. In order to do so, core subjects must be emphasized.

Q: Do charter schools take money away from public schools?

A: 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 services to the student and parents and its fiscal obligations.

Q: How do charter schools impact the performance of pre-existing public schools?

A: Conventional public school districts often view charter schools as a threat but time has shown that these new schools can serve a valuable teaching role. Increasingly on a nation-wide level, members of the traditional public school system are turning to charter schools for examples of the “best-practices” regarding everything from curriculum to staffing and teacher retention. In addition, the National Bureau of Economic Research has shown that the presence of charter schools increases composite test scores in traditional district schools.

Q: What sort of achievement level do charter school students exhibit?

A: Due to personalized attention and flexible, student-oriented curriculum, charter students at the highs school level show “stronger performance scores in English Language Arts, math, writing, topic development, and writing competition.” Also, according to a recent study, charter school students nationwide are outscoring their counterparts in neighboring conventional public schools by as much as 5%.

http://www.gse.harvard.edu/~pfpie/pdf/Technical_Appendix_Final.pdf.

Q: Will charter schools accept only a certain type of student?

A: As with all public schools, charter schools cannot pick and choose. West Virginians for Education Reform supports a lottery system for student selection. This will ensure an equal opportunity for each child interested in these schools. The students who apply will do so for different reasons, but they, as with any school system, have a personal choice over which school they wish to attend. The different programs available at different charter schools appeal to a certain kind of student. Some charter schools cater to those interested in technology, some to those interested in math, some to those interested in foreign studies, and so on and so forth. However, typically, a carter school serves children whose needs, for one reason or another, are not met by conventional charter schools.