This flexibility has made charter schools extremely popular among parents. In a Minnesota survey, parents cited such things as curriculum, teachers, staff, small classes, longer classes, a good overall environment and school resources as advantages of charter schools. As a result, many schools have waiting lists. In Massachusetts, eight charter schools received a total of 1,316 applicants for 882 seats. In another case, University Public School in Michigan received 5,223 applicants for 330 spots.
Charter schools are even popular among teachers.
The Boston renaissance Charter School received 1,000 teaching applicants for only 40 spots. Charter independence has already unleashed dramatic changes in some public schools. The Vaughn Next Century Learning Center , a charter school in Los Angeles, used its freedom from red tape to boost attendance and increase its funding. The surplus will also be used for future expansions and facility upgrades. Charter-driven reform also has created an extraordinary degree of diversity because the schools are designed to meet the educational needs of individual students and communities.