Charter Schools

Charter schools are publicly funded schools that have a "charter" or contract with the school district to meet certain performance requirements, but they are intentionally designed to operate independent of the school district. The idea is to provide a publicly funded alternative to traditional education in "government schools."

There's lots of information on the web, as charter schools are part of the education reform movement. Two popular sources of information and discussion promoting the idea of charter schools are the National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and US Charter Schools.

There are organizations that help organize and launch charter schools, and there are even some virtual charter schools.

Charter schools have been shown to be very successful in many areas, but since they're government funded, they're subject to the whims of politics.

by Clair Schwan Are you a writer, passionate about this or any other topic? Join Blogcritics!

Latest blogosphere posts tagged “Charter Schools”

• School boards: Charter school law violates constitution

  
  Get Schooled — Authority: 504
  Here is an op-ed that I ran on the Monday education page in the print newspaper. It deals with the new charter schools law and was written by Jeannie M. Henry, Georgia School Boards Association executive director,  and Joseph White, Georgia School Boards Association president and a Mitchell County Board of Education ...
  23 hours ago

• The Education Wars IV: Charter Schools

  
  Random Thoughts from Random Places — Authority: 148
  They arent what they are cracked up to be, despite Arnes and Baracks statements to the contrary . “I don’t have anything against charter schools as such,’’ said Barrett. “It’s the funding of them, that’s the biggest problems mayors have. They were intended for cities, not for rural areas like ...
  1 day ago

• Charter Schools: Why Republicans Can’t Make This Issue A Winner ......

  
  A Political Season — Authority: 120
  Thats the answer that Vladimir posits a question to in a post at Redstate (the conservative blog that would swiftly ban me for this point of view...if they hadnt already). Vladimir asks a question that really should be examined by the GOP as a party and conservatives as a movement, namely why dont we make any ...
  1 day ago

• Charter Schools: Why Can’t Republicans Make This Issue A Winner?

  
  RedState — Authority: 774
  Charter schools work - on so many levels. Charter schools educate kids. Charter schools promote local control and parental involvement. Charter schools succeed in stark contrast to the failed policies of the NEA and the Department of Education. One New Orleans charter school changes the culture, sees the results ...
  1 day ago

• BASIS Charter in the Star

  
  Blog For Arizona — Authority: 513
  by David Safier Youll find 2 articles about BASIS in the Sunday Star, one about its academic approach and the other about questions concerning salaries and choice of employees . Reporter Tim Steller also has a few blog posts ( here and here ) with other interesting information. First, kudos to BASIS. This is ...
  2 days ago

• Corporate Charters Pillage Public Property: Can the Media Be Bothered to Report It?

  
  Schools Matter — Authority: 137
  From Danny Weils new offering at Dissident Voice : The Los Angeles Board of Education, little more than a managerial club belonging to LA Mayor Villaraigosa and his privatized charter crew, including Green Dot Schools, other educational maintenance organizations (EMO’s) and deep pocket entrepreneurs approved ...
  2 days ago

• The Education Wars: Lawsuits

  
  Random Thoughts from Random Places — Authority: 148
  The teachers union at L.A. Unified has filed a lawsuit over the planned takeover of schools to make way for charter schools .
  2 days ago

• School tax credit, nearly last reminder

  
  Blog For Arizona — Authority: 513
  by David Safier Yeah, I know, Im a nag. But Christmas has come and gone and New Years is almost upon us. Its time to get out those last minute checks or online credit card payments to the public school of your choice: $200 per individual, $400 filing jointly. You have to fill out the form or have your letter ...
  3 days ago

• Where the Charters Are

  
  I Thought a Think — Authority: 467
  Interesting map from US News. There are 11 states with no charter schools, and were one of them.
  3 days ago

• Article on BASIS Charter in the Sunday Star

  
  Blog For Arizona — Authority: 513
  by David Safier The Stars Timothy Steller has been working on an article about BASIS Charter School, which is set to appear in the Sunday paper. BASIS has a very strong -- and most probably well deserved -- reputation for educational excellence. But like other charter schools in the state, its hard to peer into its ...
  4 days ago

• The Explosion of Charter Schools in America

  
  Kentucky School News and Commentary — Authority: 436
  This from US News and World Report :
  6 days ago

• Charter schools not part of Ky.s Race to Top

  
  Kentucky School News and Commentary — Authority: 436
  "Our application will not have any provision for charter schools in it because we dont think there will be adequate time or support in the legislature by the deadline were facing," --Terry Holliday This from Jim Warren at H-L: Advocates for charter schools had hoped the lure of federal funding might ...
  6 days ago

• NY’s budget crunch: charters can help

  
  E3 (Excellent Education for Everyone) — Authority: 126
  By BENJAMIN GEYERHAHNThe New York PostWhy is the Legislature strangling the growth of public charter schools?Charters cost taxpayers less than traditional public schools, and charter-friendly policies could attract hundreds of millions of dollars in Race to the Top funding from the Obama administration. And New York ...
  6 days ago

• UFT applies pressure to a charter school balking at pay raises

  
  GothamSchools Newsroom — Authority: 599
  Frustrated by two years of contract negotiations, the city’s teachers union is pressuring a unionized Queens charter school to make a deal. United Federation of Teachers president Michael Mulgrew and other union officials held a news conference in front of Merrick Academy-Queens Public Charter School today to ...
  6 days ago

• Strike against the RTT application

  
  Flypaper — Authority: 600
  Many of us complained that the final RTT application was not as strong as the draft version. One area of concern was charter caps. Originally, caps were a nonstarter but in the final regulations, this was eased and only certain types of caps became verboten. So did this small change have any real impact? Yes, ...
  1 week ago

• New York State Says English-Learners Arent At-Risk

  
  Learning the Language — Authority: 126
  New York state education officials have decided that a charter school in New York City cant give preference to English-language learners in admissions because such students arent technically "at risk," according to a story published yesterday by GothamSchools. State law urges charter schools to focus on students "at ...
  1 week ago

• My Son Progresses To Straight A’s

  
  Personal Blog of Justin Germino — Authority: 128
  My son had entered a charter school called Legacy Charter School earlier this year which is more advanced than the public elementary schools around here in Casa Grande, Arizona. With first graders already working on 2nd grade math and my son being a tad younger then the rest of the students he was having some trouble ...
  1 week ago

• Debate of NYC School Space Continues

  
  NYC Private Schools Blog — Authority: 130
  The debate over using public school space for charter and private schools in NYC has been steadily building, quite literally. The NYC Public School Parents Blog carried a recent article with some very stinging arguments and points about wealthy patrons funding and creating specialty charter schools in NYC.It ...
  1 week ago

• Charter for Heron Bay Academy Approved

  
  New Homes Section Blog — Authority: 124
  Located in Henry County,  Heron Bay Academy received the news they were hoping for. The new Academy has been  approved by the Georgia Charter School Commission to begin construction on the charter school. The school will be located within the master-planned community of  Heron Bay Golf  & Country Club in ...
  1 week ago

• Alabama to consider charter school law

  
  ADF Alliance Alert — Authority: 536
  TuscaloosaNews.com : "Gov. Bob Riley will ask the Legislature to pass a charter school law to boost Alabama’s chances at getting some of the $175 million in federal stimulus money that will be competitively available beginning next month.The conservative Alabama Policy Institute backs the idea of charter schools. ...
  1 week ago

Comments about Charter Schools