The varying estimates of the number of charter schools and students who attend them points to a problem with tracking not only basic statistics about charter schools but also their performance and adherence to contracts and charters. Current measures of accountability for charter schools, such as using test scores to track the academic progress of students, are inadequate. States are finding it hard to evaluate charter schools, which vary widely in curriculum and grading and student evaluation systems. Inadequate study and evaluation of charter schools has been done to justify such a large increase in the funding of charter schools. In the future, more research should be conducted before significant funding increases are adopted.
Many charter schools are niche schools that serve a particular interest group.
Only students who fit a certain profile or criteria may be admitted. For example, some charter schools screen students through selective recruitment practices. Pre-admission counseling may discourage some families from applying to charter schools. The National PTA is concerned that charter schools will divert money and attention from traditional public schools, which admit all students, and create a two-tiered education system. Excerpted from the National PTA Guide to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act , published January 1999.