When charter schools try new approaches, use technology in unique ways, involve parents in the critical process of educating their children, or design new ways of using time and space, the innovations tested can spread to other schools with similar student bodies. Charter schools should be required to make information available to the public regarding the progress of their students on state standards and assessments. Reporting requirements in charter school laws should be specific as to the type of information that charter schools must report to the public. While the intent of every charter school law is to have schools that are more accountable than the regular public school, few laws require information to be reported that would indicate the success and impact of charter schools on student achievement and systemic reform. To meet the AFT's criteria on reporting requirements, charter school laws must state specifically that charter schools report demographic information on students and staff, the number of special needs students served, the annual financial audit, the results of achievement tests, attendance rates for students and staff, mobility rates of students, teacher and staff turnover, parental outreach efforts, and graduation rates, where appropriate.
Charter schools can provide a real opportunity for reform.
If charter schools are indeed laboratories where new ideas are tested, new methods pioneered, and governance structures refined, then these schools deserve to be supported.