In many cases, according to the report, charter proposals include only vague goals accompanied by equally ambiguous assessment strategies. Even when goals and assessments are more specific, the time lines for goal achievement are typically unclear. For example, in one charter proposal identified by the report, the only clearly enumerated goals accompanied by anticipated dates for achievement dealt with obtaining more equipment and technology. In fact, the report notes that charters rely heavily upon private resources to supplement public funds. In this way, the charter school system was found to advance many of the same fiscal inequities that the larger public system is commonly accused of promoting.
Advocates also argue that charter schools give parents greater educational choice.
In particular, they argue that charter schools afford parents the opportunity to remove disadvantaged children from low-performing public schools. The report notes that while charter schools offer some parents a greater choice, they do not offer all parents such a choice. According to the report, California's charter schools have considerably more control over which students will attend than do other public schools. Our state must take every precaution to guard against the perpetuation of financial as well as access inequities. New York's developing charter school system will inevitably demand a great deal of attention as new charters struggle to prove themselves academically and fiscally accountable to the communities they serve.