An Inside Look at Charter Schools Essay

Are charter schools the right choice to the educational needs of our children? Charter schools are tuition free public schools created and operated by parents, organizations, and community groups to fill student’s educational needs. Charter schools consider educating their students as the priority, and identify how children’s learning needs are different from each other, so they came up with different ways on educating their students such as learning in small groups, or by participating in hands on learning. Along with their unique programs such as art, math, and science, charter schools are also the stronger academic choice for students. Parents should consider charter schools for their children’s

Open to all children, free of tuition, and does not have special entrance requirements, charter schools believe that children should have the opportunity to achieve at a high level. When creating charter schools, they focused on a desire to create greater flexibility for innovation within public education. It was hoped that successful innovations could be adapted to benefit public education more broadly. (NEA, 2017). Charter schools also, foster partnership between parents, teachers, and students in hopes of creating an environment in which parents can be more involved, teachers are allowed to innovate, and students are provided with structure they need to learn.

In like a manner, Charter schools improve the learning environments for students and help improve focus on learning and achievement. To a direct quote from the RAND Corporation, “Charter schools are publicly funded schools that operate outside direct school district control and are intended to provide educational choice to families, reduce bureaucratic constraints on educators and provide competitive pressure to conventional public schools.” Which however signifies, Charter schools adapted to student’s specific needs and abilities, as well as offer individualized choices and alternative pathways in the educational system. For a counterargument, Opponents to school choice argue that “test scores alone may not fully measure the benefits of charter schools for their students.” For more reasoning of charter schools, the existences of charter schools, improved specific, or challenging curriculum offerings could also serve to increase the competition between traditional and charter public schools. Increase flexibility for staff and teachers could “reduce bureaucratic constraints on educators.” The environment in charter schools is more socially supportive, and is less prone to

Charter schools are an alternative to public schools. Whether this alternative is a better solution to the public schools is the argument. Public schools can be just as creative as charter schools. Public schools are funded by our tax dollars, which ultimately the United States Government decides where those funds go. Education should be the last thing to be cut in the budget, but unfortunately, we the people do not have a choice other than the public offices whom we hope will do what they have said in their election speeches. Charter schools have come about to fill the gap that public schools cannot fill. They can gear their curriculum to student needs, where some public schools cannot because of funding cuts.

Charter schools are unique public schools that is allowed the freedom to be more innovative while being held accountable for advancing student achievement. These charter schools are not private schools, they do not charge for tuition and they are open to all children within specific boundaries. Research has demonstrated that charter schools make picks up in the urban community with students who have veritably been undeserved by traditional state funded schools. Charter schools outscored their traditional school peers in 25 of the 41 cities in math, and 23 of the 42 cities in reading. On average, charter schools had no significant impacts on student’s achievement. Charter schools help enhance student learning, empower the utilization of new and imaginative educating strategies, and give schools an approach to move from a lead based to an execution based arrangement of responsibility. Public schools are like charter schools except for the freedom that a charter school has. And private school is based on tuition and that is funded by charities and tax holders in that community.

The first day of school is a rite of passage for most children. The step from home or day care to school is huge: they are a big kid now. However, sometimes the local Public School, especially in rural or economically challenged areas, can be an uncertain, questionable and scary place, and yet parents are expected to entrust them with their five or six year old child. Some years ago, when my daughter was ready to enter school, she and I had just such an experience, and we began to seriously search for an alternative school for her to attend. What we discovered was a Charter School: a possible solution for parents, enabling them to take more control of their child’s education. For my daughter and

There are a number of ways that charter schools give parents greater individual control over their childrens’ education. No longer is a child bound to attend a particular school based on the geographical location of his or her home. Parents have the freedom to select a charter school that they feel would best suit the needs of their children1. Parents also have a greater say in the affairs of charter schools compared to public schools. In many instances, parents serve on the “board of education” governing the charter school, a board whose context is determined by a school’s charter and not state law. This contrasts with the traditional public school board that is limited to seven members elected from the community-at-large, regardless of whether board members have children in school. Moreover, a charter school board is entirely occupied with the operations of just one school instead of an entire district. Charter school supporters argue that this leads to less bureaucracy and greater efficiency in creating school policy that ultimately benefits students.

At the foundation of the American public school system is the belief that every child deserves a quality education. To this end, the public school system in America has undergone many reforms. One of which has been charter schools. Charter schools are independent public schools of choice working under the auspices of a charter and not governed by the board of education. The charter can be written by parents, teachers, school administrators, community leaders, educational businesses, etc. It determines the school’s guiding principles, management and accountability systems. The state approves the charter and provides funding for the school. Families choose these schools for their children. (“Resistance Hinders Success,” 2004)

Charter schools are all the buzz in the media lately; they are what seems to be the sensible response to the path traditional public schools are heading, down the drain. However, charter schools still face many obstacles and issues, stemming from the fact that they are far less regulated than their public school counterparts. This enacts issues including lack of quality control, increased segregation, and severe misuse of funds. Likewise, charter schools are only going to become increasingly more competitive and higher quality if their closest competitors follow that path, meaning the most successful charters are the ones compared directly to private schools. Since charters are also attempting to make a profit, they will go to all extents, including discrimination to bring up the scores, and therefore gain more leverage in negotiating for more funds. Simply enough, the most logical and simple way to prevent charter schools from degrading in quality or becoming out of control is to put more regulation on them, while still allowing them to maintain many characteristics of an independent charter.

America’s education is failing, and serious reform is needed. The topic of education has been in the forefront over the last few decades. Many, including politicians have attempted to tackle what seemed to be a hopeless situation. With all the corruption and bureaucracy within the system, it is unlikely that this problem will be resolved anytime soon. However, there is hope amidst all this, and that is charter schools. Charter schools impact education by having passionate teachers who truly care for their students’ well-being, use up-to-date school methodology, are able to function with less bureaucracy, and have accountability that results in less corruption, and increased cost efficiency.

Charter schools are defined as a publicly funded school, established as an autonomous institution with educational goals set by it board, and operating by contract or charter with local school board or state. (oed.com). Since these schools are privatized, many parents believe they are somehow better performing than neighborhood public schools. Charter schools rely on convincing data to justify the practice of privatizing schools, data that shows high performing students. However, they hide the fact that they often shun away minority students, financially disadvantaged students, and students with learning disabilities.

So what is a charter school? A charter school is a school where it is being funded by organizations, groups, teachers etc. And they are exempt from local rules and regulations. Some parents want their children to go to charter schools because of how successful charter schools have been with students who succeed in their academics. The thing is that you either have to test into that charter school or get picked by a lottery system. There is another side where some think that charter schools are not beneficial in ways that could jeopardize the community and their students. There are a lot of public schools but at the same time there are a number of charter schools that are growing. There are many reasons public schools could be great, and better

Education is a very important part of a person’s life. Every parent want the best thing for their children. They want their children to be happy and to be able to achieve their dreams and be what they want to be, which is why they want the best education for their children. Because, almost everyone would agree that being well – educated is the closest way to success life and good future. But, their desire to send their kids to the best school have to face many obstacles. One of these obstacles would be choosing school for their kids. In the U.S., there are three types of school: public school, charter school and private school. Private schools are usually very selective, has better performance than government-funded school and has expensive tuition fee. Rich families would send their kids to private schools because they could afford the expense. However, for a normal family, paying the expense for private schools would be overwhelming. So, there options are narrowed between charter schools and public schools. There have been many debates on whether charter schools or public schools provide students with better education. But, there are obvious evidences that charter schools are generally better than public schools:

Many charter schools are known for their rigorous programs that challenge students to fulfill specific requirements that are different from traditional schools. Charter schools also value the idea of cultivating students with a talent for arts, technology or music (Chen). Institutions such as charter schools may be viewed as open or loosely constructed based on the unique guidelines displayed in each school’s charter, but in reality this is untrue because the individuality of each charter is what allows each student to excel based on the personalization and attention given to every single student who attends. A charter school has the potential to reach out into the community and help children who are not able to fit in at a traditional public school and it may allow the student to learn from a new perspective. Any child is allowed to apply to a charter school and they are admitted on a first-come, first served basis or through a lottery. The decision is not made on race or sex of the child and there is a fair chance for every student. A charter school is a great alternative to private school because there is no tuition fee at a charter school which is run by the state. Operators of the charter schools are able to provide children with a school that will create new and improved services which are lacking in the public school districts (“Charter School FAQ”). A charter school can also help

A benefit of placing charter schools in a school district is school choice. Parents appear to support the option of deciding where their children attend school. According to Andy Smarick, “In New York, 12,000 students are on charter wait lists; in Massachusetts 19, 000; in Pennsylvania 27,000” (2008). Additionally, an Annual Survey of America’s Charter Schools 2010 notes that an average of 239 children is on a waiting list to enter each charter school in America, which is a 21% surge since last year (Center for Education Reform, 2010). These studies indicate the importance of school choice to parents and their desire to enroll their children in charter schools. Another example that shows parental demand for charter schools comes from The Evaluation of Charter School Impacts a study published in June 2009 by the United States Department of Education. The study showed parents of charter school students were more satisfied with their children’s academic achievement and social development compared to parents of students in traditional school setting.