Five Big Questions
Recent events, combined with the shrill rhetoric on both sides of the choice debate, could tempt school board members and administrators to dismiss charters, along with their motives, their potential, and their growing importance in public education. That would be a big mistake, because the more credible voices in the charter community raise legitimate critiques and challenges that school leaders ignore at their peril. Here are five big questions (and many smaller ones) your board should ask before authorizing a charter school.
May 2005
Heart of the City
Though the atmosphere at the Russell Byers Charter School is lively, it is far from chaotic. From the extra-wide classroom windows that let in abundant sunlight to the gleaming blue and white floors, the school is an oasis of peace in the middle of Center City Philadelphia. You would never guess it was born from a senseless act of violence.
May 2005
Vouchers, Choice, and Controversy
Are school vouchers a good idea? Opinions remain divided as a judge strikes down Colorado's statewide program.
January 2004
Vouchers, Charters, and School Choice: Just Another Case of History Repeating?
After a while, long-standing controversies assume a predictable pattern. Take, for example, school choice. Groups supporting choice push to bring other educational options to the public schools. Groups protecting the tenets of public education decry those options. Proponents and researchers for both sides wrangle. Local and state candidates base their platforms on the “pro” or “no” side of the movement, and legislation is noisily debated. Litigation follows, and the political hue and cry continues.
June 2003
Charters, 10 Years In
Despite hundreds of studies, policy papers, and articles on charter schools, it's déjà vu all over again. The problems that plagued charters in the early '90s—funding, administration, facilities, staffing, governance—still plague them today. The worries charter school opponents had a decade ago haven't disappeared either. Depending on your perspective, your assumptions, even the legislation in the state you're looking at, things are either half-empty or half-full when it comes to the reform's success.
November 2002
The Voucher Decision
By the slimmest of margins, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a historic decision upholding the constitutionality of school vouchers. The high court's 5-4 ruling in Zelman v. Simmons-Harris marks a fundamental change in the debate. Rather than a legal dispute to be resolved by the courts, the voucher debate is now, for the most part, a political controversy to be resolved by legislatures.
October 2002
The Cyber Charter Challenge
Cyber charters, like their brick-and-mortar brethren, are a curious amalgam of home schools, for-profit companies, and public school districts that cater to parents seeking a choice. Where they differ from traditional charters is in their reach—across district boundaries, from one end of a state to another—and their approach. “It’s kind of the ultimate unschool—we don’t know what they’re doing,” said Stuart Knade, general counsel for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association (PSBA). “They’re experimenting with kids’ lives on the public dollar.”
September 2002