Charter Schools
What are charter schools?
Charter schools are public institutions, supported by public funds. However, they have greater freedom from state rules and regulations than traditional public schools. Charter schools are typically free to hire or fire personnel, design curriculum, and promote specific values. A charter school must negotiate a contract (charter), usually with a local school district or charter authorizer designated by the state. Each charter may vary, because each state has different education laws and each charter school is designed to be unique in focus or student clientele. However, all contracts describe school goals, how the school will be run, the amount of public money it will receive, and the degree of freedom it will be given.
Why are charter schools controversial?
The charter school movement believes giving individual schools greater freedom makes education more effective, because the needs of each community are addressed. Less regulation means there are many different kinds of charter schools. Charter schools may serve gifted students, low-income families, or religious communities. Educators and politicians argue about whether it is good to have large differences between schools. The potential advantages and disadvantages of charter schools are listed below.
What are the possible advantages of charter schools?
- Increased Innovation Charter schools have the independence to try new forms of teaching and experiment with the best way to reach their students.
- Increased Efficiency Charter schools avoid a myriad of challenging government regulations and the interference of state officials.
- Greater Accountability Charter schools must attract students to succeed. If they do not attract sufficient numbers of students, they will close for budgetary reasons or their charter can be taken away.
- Increased Competition Charter schools treat education as a product and must compete for families as customers. This is an ultimate form of accountability.
- Private Resources Many charter schools have succeeded in attracting considerable philanthropic gifts to support richer programs.
What are the possible disadvantages of charter schools?
- Greater Inequality Charter schools may not help all students. Admission requirements, transportation costs, and limited information can prevent disadvantaged students from attending a charter school.
- Fewer Resources Few charter schools receive money to pay for start-up costs. Charter schools may have poor facilities and classroom resources.
- Lack of Standards Freedom from regulations allows charter schools to avoid important standards, such as teacher certification.
- Group Exclusion Schools that are sponsored by individual communities can reject important values and exclude particular groups.
How large is the Charter School Movement?
The first charter school legislation was established in Minnesota in 1991. Since then, political support to increase school choice and empower local school districts has aided the charter school movement. Charter schools have grown rapidly over the past decade. However, most individual charter schools remain small and have class sizes smaller than traditional public schools. About 55% of all students in charter schools are in grades K-8 (SRI International, 2002). The following chart illustrates the rapid growth of charter schools.
Charter School Growth
Education Vouchers
What are education vouchers?
Educational vouchers represent a system of education finance in which parents are given a tuition certificate that can be used to attend participating public or private schools. Education vouchers can be paid by public (government) or private (corporations, foundations) funds. Many different kinds of voucher plans have been proposed. Each may address the needs of different students and emphasize different priorities. For example, the dollar amount of a voucher differs considerably among different plans. Also, a voucher can be given to low-income students, to students in failing schools, or to the entire population. However, all publicly-funded voucher programs take funds usually given directly to public schools and allocate them to parents to decide where money for their child’s education will be spent.
Why are publicly-funded education vouchers controversial?
Publicly-funded education vouchers allow families to make private decisions regarding how public taxpayer money should be spent. Therefore, a voucher program hopes to create an educational market where schools must compete for students. Supporters claim market benefits, such as choice and innovation, will improve education. Opponents fear that vouchers will lead to greater inequality and the loss of civic preparation. Current evidence concerning the impact of vouchers is disputed. The potential advantages and disadvantages of publicly-funded vouchers are listed below.
What are the possible advantages of publicly-funded vouchers?
- Increased Choice A tuition certificate, especially for low-income families, helps parents afford to choose a school suited to their child’s needs.
- Greater Competition As families gain the ability to choose the school their child attends, schools may have to improve to attract students.
- Targeted Assistance Vouchers can be aimed at a particular struggling student population and offer assistance without changing the entire public education system.
- More Parental Discretion Vouchers provide parents with significant authority over the knowledge and skills their child will learn.
What are the possible disadvantages of publicly-funded vouchers?
- Increased Inequality Unregulated markets may produce widely varying quality and school focus.
- Difficult Implementation Many private schools refuse to participate in voucher programs and there may be more interested students than seats available.
- Administrative Costs May Rise New administrative and functional oversight, informational services, and transportation will need to be addressed to run a voucher program. This creates additional costs.
- Loss of Public Sphere If education becomes a private decision of the family, there is little incentive to engage in public discourse and activity.
What was the Zelman decision? Why is it important?
The case Zelman et al. v. Simmons-Harris et al. gained national attention when the Supreme Court declared that vouchers could be used to attend religious schools under specific circumstances. The case concerned the Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program, which provided students with vouchers to attend public and private schools. Nearly all voucher recipients attended religious schools. Voucher opponents insisted the Cleveland program violated the separation of church and state. Defenders of the voucher program claimed students simply enrolled in the best schools available. For example, 46 of the 56 schools willing to accept vouchers held a religious affiliation. On June 27, 2002, in a 5-4 ruling, the court found that Cleveland’s voucher program did not violate the Establishment Clause of the First Amendment and was allowed to continue operation.
The influence of the Zelman decision continues to be debated. Many voucher advocates believe legal acceptance is a crucial step forward in promoting widespread voucher programs. However, legal scholars and educators note that the ruling only applies to federal law. Many state constitutions explicitly prohibit the use of public dollars to fund religious education, which may obstruct future voucher programs.
How large are publicly-funded voucher programs?
Despite the significant attention given to educational vouchers, there are only a few, small voucher programs in existence. Many proposals for voucher programs have met sharp resistance from state legislators and local citizens. At present, only three states have operational voucher programs. A few other states are debating creating a voucher program. The chart below details current voucher programs in the United States.
