Charter School Vs Public School 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

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)

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:

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.

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

Why choose to go to Charter School rather than public school? Charter schools are public school of choice, meaning families choose for their children. Federal legislation provides grants to help charters to manage start-up costs. They create better educational opportunities for the students therefore they have higher expectations in teaching. Charter Schools and zoned (public) schools are tuition free but unfortunately not everyone can get in to Charter school, since it works by lottery. Everyone has the opportunity to apply and has a choice to attend Charlet School if the students are lucky enough to get in. Charter schools are more effective for three reasons: they have higher graduation rates, teachers are more prepared and devoted to their students, and teachers take a greater responsibility for their students as they compete against Zoned Schools.

In his new budget, President Obama proposed to substantially increase federal spending to improve public schools. Yet steady spending increases of the last three decades resulted in little change in the poor achievement of students that worries many citizens. Much research, however, shows that what works well is parental choice among schools fairly competing for students as in the case of traditional, tuition-based private schools. Rigorous studies comparing students randomly selected or not to oversubscribed private and charter schools as well as large, statistically controlled surveys show that these schools excel in achievement and parental satisfaction.

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.

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.

Since the 1980s, charter schools have allowed families to exercise school choice, a practice that had begun a few decades earlier when parents preferred to control their children’s education because of religious views or racial prejudices. As dissatisfaction with the performance public schools grew during the late 20th century, parents called on government to subsidize an arrangement where children could receive adequate education outside of the traditional public school system. Thus, two major school choice devices emerged: charter schools, privately run schools that receive public funding, and tuition vouchers, which cover some or all of tuition at participating private schools.

A good education is an essential part of a child’s development. Today, parents have a choice in their child’s education and can evaluate both public and private schools. Although both public and private schools provide education and opportunities for students, parents should evaluate the differences and choose the option that best suits their child and families’ needs. In this paper, I will compare and contrast five major areas that relate to public and private schools including class size, cost, curriculum, services, and teachers.

Plato said, "You must train the children to their studies in a playful manner, and without any air of constraint, with the further object of discerning more readily the natural bent of their respective characters" (Plato). Education has increased as a topic of conversation among parents in America today. The importance of a good education has increased in value, and parents are searching for the best possible school for their child in preparation for college. Many believe the most opportune way for their child to succeed in studies is by attending a private school. On the other hand, another group of parents thinks that public schools are the better route. Nevertheless, public schools have been proven to be more successful in the

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.

Education is a very important aspect in society and is valued by parents, politicians, educators, and others in the community. The education of children is a vital role in any organized system because the future depends on those who are young to take over in the cycle of society. The institutions that provide children with an education can be divided into two categories known as traditional public schools and nontraditional schools. Nontraditional schools provide students with different learning environments compared to traditional schools and some specific examples of these schools are magnet schools, charter schools, and virtual schools (Newberry). All of these schools are relatively new and have controversial views across the country.

The American education system and its public institutions are slowly changing. What used to be a public institution is pushed to be a “publicly funded, but privately managed” system, also known as charter schools. The problem with charter schools development is due to the lack of enforcement is the results of insufficient measure of transparency and accountability. Due to the lack of oversight the public have over charter schools, this leads to many cases of fraud and abuse and no guarantee of academic advancement. Examples could be found in the lack of coherent data on the improvement of students performance, and case of fraud, both financially and academically, in many charter schools all over the nations. This overdue dispute raises concerning questions of what is the right and satisfying solution for the issue and how to guide state legislators and communities toward public accountability and transparency for charter schools.