Instead of jumping through procedural hoops and over paperwork hurdles, educators can focus on setting and reaching high academic standards for their students. Charters provide opportunity for better child-centered education. They provide the chance for communities to create the greatest range of educational choices for their children. Operators have the opportunity and the incentive to create schools that provide new and better services to students. And charters, bound only by the high standards they have set for themselves, inspire the rest of the system to work harder and be more responsive to the needs of the children.
Charter schools are public schools.
Most charters are created by groups of educators, parents and community leaders. Some have been converted from existing public schools. A small number of charter schools were once private schools. In other states, charters must negotiate their funding in their charter contract, often below the level of funding of their district counterparts. Unlike traditional district schools, most charter schools do not receive funding to cover the cost of securing a facility.