Public schools, in contrast, had only 23 percent minority enrollment. Charter schools, in fact, typically face far more stringent standards than traditional public schools. If they fail to meet those goals, their charters are revoked. First, charter schools may be one of the more important and viable educational reform efforts in existence today. Second, public policy has a critical role to play.
Legislation can encourage or discourage charter schools.
Arizona, for example, has one of the strongest charter school laws on the books. In fact, states with strong laws are home to 92.7 percent of the charter schools. Whether charter schools will be successful in Ohio depend crucially on whether state legislators let them. Ohio should join the ranks of the other strong charter states and authorize community schools. This will permit the kind of innovation that will allow public school to meet the educational challenges of Ohio students and communities.