To them, it was nothing short of a dream come true.
Parents even sit in when new teachers are being interviewed.
Though it may have been the passage of the 1992 California Charter Schools Act that made charter schools legally possible, it is the parents and teachers that made it happen to begin with. And it's those same parents and teachers that continue to make things happen, as California's charter-school program enters its sixth year. Charter-school parents tend to be very involved. According to Carlson, it's not a moment too soon. The circumstances of their lives have been focused purely on survival, not learning.