At Academy Charter School, which is housed in converted retail shopping space in Castle Rock, Colo., pupils learn to read and write through a traditional emphasis on phonics and grammar. The curriculum for the K–7 school is based on the Core Knowledge program developed by E.D. Hirsch., Jr., the University of Virginia professor who has argued that U.S. schools are squeezing content out of the curriculum in favor of teaching process skills.
"We wanted a more content-rich, sequential curriculum," says Melinda Windler, a part-time legal assistant and president of the school's governing board. In a previous public school, Windler's daughter was slow to learn to read, and Windler feared she was falling behind. But school officials weren't able to reassure her about her daughter's progress, and Windler found the school's emphasis on "whole language" incompatible with her philosophy.
In the past, Windler's options may have been limited to sending her children to private schools. But Academy benefits from a new "charter school" law that allows parents and teachers to create and operate special schools—while remaining in the context of public education. Charter school laws have now been passed in more than a dozen states. The central idea behind them is to allow specialized schools to operate with more freedom than public schools normally enjoy. Charters are granted for a limited time, and a school must meet certain performance criteria to have its charter renewed.
Beyond that, state plans differ considerably. In Minnesota, which in 1991 became the first state to award charters, the new schools are legally autonomous entities organized as a non-profit or cooperative. In other states, the charter school remains under the control of the local school board. In several states, including Colorado, any individual or group can apply to start a new school. Other states allow only existing public schools to apply for charter status. States also differ on such variables as the number of charters allowed, the level of support needed to apply for charter school status, and the degree to which charter schools operate free from state regulations that bind other public schools.
Circumventing Bureaucracy
Advocates believe charter schools provide new options for parents and teachers who have innovative ideas—ideas that are squelched by or thought to be impractical in the typical school bureaucracy.
Ted Kolderie, senior associate at the Center for Policy Studies and a leading proponent of charter schools, says the best plans offer true autonomy, which puts schools in a better position to serve the needs of their students and parents. Site-based management within the traditional district structure "has arguably been a phony," Kolderie says, because schools still lack the flexibility to make many important decisions in operating the school.
Because charter schools are freed from many regulations, they may well present some possible models of what can happen in public education, advocates say. "A lot of what is happening in charter schools could happen in a district," says Peggy Hunter, a charter schools specialist with Designs for Learning. But such constraints as curriculum mandates and union regulations often impede efforts to try something innovative, she says.
Further, the charter option sometimes provides leverage that pushes school districts to be more responsive to parents and teachers, Kolderie says. One Minnesota district turned down a charter application to establish a Montessori program—and went on to develop its own program, he says. "It causes the mainline districts to move and change their own schools."
Charter schools will have to be more accountable than traditional schools, some supporters claim. They must gain an initial base of support to form a school—and then demonstrate convincingly that students are achieving once the school is up and running, says Virginia Greiman, general counsel to the Massachusetts secretary of education. Charter schools "will be scrutinized beyond belief," says Greiman, and if they don't measure up, "parents will vote with their feet."
Nothing New Here
But critics argue that charter schools won't model new practices—but will siphon off resources from schools remaining in traditionally organized school systems.
Most of the ideas proposed by charter school applicants are already being practiced in public education somewhere, says Andrea DiLorenzo, a political policy analyst for the Center for the Preservation of Public Education. "By and large, we're finding that the level of real innovation is not taking place." Nor have states developed solid plans for replicating good practices if charter schools were to exemplify them, she says.
Further, if charter schools could benefit by being freed from burdensome regulations and mandates, "then why not open it to everybody?" DiLorenzo asks. Others question the idea that the presence of charter schools will create leverage to change public education broadly. Charter schools enroll fewer than a thousand students in Minnesota, the first state to operate a program, notes Larry Wicks, executive director of the Minnesota Education Association. Those schools may do a fine job, he adds, but "we're still tinkering around the margins" if the goal is broader changes in public education.
Because some charter school plans funnel per-pupil dollars directly to the charter school, critics argue that the schools remaining in the traditional district will suffer because they will not benefit as much from economies of scale. A more explosive issue is the prospect that for-profit businesses, private educators, or home schoolers will begin to operate charter schools, using public funds. Massachusetts has authorized three charter schools to be run by communications magnate Chris Whittle's Edison Project. And Minnesota allows private schools to apply for charter school status, although the school must be nonsectarian to win approval.
The free-market philosophy behind charter schools rankles many critics. But it doesn't bother Kathy Consigli, a former business consultant who serves as dean at Academy Charter School. The school enrolled 119 students last year, its first year in operation, while placing many others on a waiting list. This fall, the school's enrollment is expected to exceed 200, and a second charter school will be launched nearby, also based on the Core Knowledge curriculum. "The market demand is definitely there," she says. Contrary to what traditionalists might think, charter schools are proving that "when parents become active and literally run a school, the world does not stop," she adds.
