Public charter schools are publicly funded schools that provide all parents a choice of public schools for their children. Free to all, public charter schools are non-sectarian, do not discriminate, and admit students without screening of any kind.
The idea behind public charter schools is that parents, given a variety of public schools to choose from, will pick the schools they think best meet the academic needs of their children. This will create competition for students among public schools - charter and traditional - that will bring across-the-board improvements in public education.
Public charter schools are organized as non-profit corporations and are freed from most of the rules that burden traditional public schools. In exchange for this freedom from central control, public charter schools are held accountable for improved student achievement. How a public charter school gets its students to learn is up to the school's board of trustees; whether student achievement has been sufficient is monitored by each school's chartering authority.
Forty-two states and the District of Columbia have passed public charter school laws, often in response to the demands of parents. Public charter schools are especially popular with inner-city parents, many of whose children have long been denied a decent education. In the District of Columbia, nearly 30 percent of all public school students now attend public charter schools.
Thanks to these new schools of choice, inner city parents are able to send their children to the sorts of schools previously reserved for the well-to-do. Parents can send their children to public charter schools that focus on fine or performing arts; foreign language immersion; math, science, and technology; or college prep liberal arts. There are also charter boarding schools, charter schools for students who have dropped out of traditional schools, and charter schools for children with disabilities.
Although new on the American education scene, public charter schools already are proving to be a powerful force for the improvement of public schooling for all children.
