This Week in Education: The Charter School Trend
by Ashley Best
Re-Vision Labs Fellow
Need the current scoop on education in the United States? Check out these links!
Week of December 7th – 11th 2009
THE CHARTER SCHOOL TREND: Charter schools, typically elementary schools through high schools, are are held accountable not by school boards or statutes, instead by self-written charters that are developed and maintained by teachers, parents, and community leaders. Although publicly funded, charter schools give education leaders the ability to more closely craft the curriculum in classrooms to meet the needs and/or wants of the students and community as a whole. This freedom makes it difficult to generalize about the types of experiences charter schools across America provide, but it is fairly objective to say that students will receive a markedly different experience there than in a public school. It is up to parents to explore different charter school options and find the best fit for their child. These links illustrate the growing interest in founding more charter school across the the United States.
Currently, 11 states do not allow public charter schools.
1. Reform Brings Choice – President Obama’s Race to the Top program pledges money toward school reform and educational options, providing growing opportunities for charter schools to be the answer to alternative public education.
2. Rough Waters – The spending of tax payers dollars on charter schools does not go without the outcry of public opinion. Will The Road to Success Charter High School open its doors?
3. A Face-to-Face Explanation – Dr. Caroline Hoxby is a Professor of Economics at Stanford University. She has spent years studying the relationship between education and economics is the the editor of The Economic Analysis of School Choice (2002) and College Choices (2004). The following three videos illustrate her well articulated view of charter schools and their impact on the United States education system.
Comparing Public & Charter Schools
Challenges Facing Charter Schools
Reasons For Charter School Success
4.NYC Charter School Evaluation Project – This study shows that NYC charter schools nearly closed the achievement gap between students in poor communities and students in affluent communities.
5. None for Washington – Washington State currently has no laws supporting charter schools. Want that to change? See what you can do!
