The National Education Association and its wholly-owned state subsidiaries have attacked charters because they see them as part of a move to eliminate public education. Local union leaders have attacked charter schools as a playground for profiteers and those seeking to introduce religion into the schools. Expanding the Charter School Idea shows how promoters of charter schools have encountered opposition from administrators and school boards, the very entities that are supposed to enable their reforms. And federal education entities, far from tendering support, have worked to subvert the interests of charter schools. While opponents have used failures to attack the charter concept, surveys of charter schools find high levels of parental satisfaction and minority participation.
Most charter schools have waiting lists, another sign of success.
Strong and weak legislation. States with weaker laws, such as Arkansas and Mississippi, strictly limit the number of charter schools, fail to provide an appeal process, and restrict autonomy. Since the more recent laws have been weak, some critics charge that states are passing legislation to gain federal money while preserving the status quo and pacifying teachers' unions. States that have passed stronger laws find it easier to amend those laws to facilitate charter schools. Strategies and sample legislation.