Charter Schools vs. Traditional School

Charter Schools vs. Traditional School Charter schools are defined by the U.S. Department of Education (as cited in Marshall, Gibbs, Greene, Nelson and Schofield, 2001) as “public schools that are under contract from some public agency” (p. 129). ? Charter schools fit in a niche between private and public schools. They are funded with public money (except for their facilities) and they are an alternative to regular public schools systems. A private group of people can submit and get approved a charter to run their own school. Charter schools receive waivers from public school districts in exchange for promising better academic results. Charters are usually given for 3-5 years, where an eye is kept on academic performance. If academic performance lags behind comparable public schools, then the “charter” is pulled and the school is closed. Therefore, the reasons for and mission of charter schools may differ by school. State boards of education have remained open to varying philosophies of educational approaches. In many states a charter can be obtained by submitting an acceptable proposal to the state board of education. If the board sees the proposal as a benefit to the current public school system, then it will most likely grant the charter (Marshall, et. al., 2001). The first charter school law was enacted in Minnesota in 1991 and had the purpose of giving educators the chance to found schools that would operate as non-profit organizations (Wronkovich, 2000). A survey of directors and founders of charter schools (as cited by Fusarelli, 2002) listed several major motives for the establishment of charter schools, including: (a)autonomy in educational programming,(b) a desire to serve a special student population, (c) realization of an educational vision, (d) a desire to provide a better teaching and learning environment, (e) instructional innovation, (f) a desire to involve parents, and (g) the autonomy to develop nontraditional relationships

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