They are either lauded as the cure for public schooling or vilified as academic holding tanks, cramming as many students in as possible before being shut down, leaving hundreds of kids without a classroom. They are places where education visionaries can try out their ideas. But more regulation is needed.
Some charter schools are really for-profit companies using canned curricula.
And there are people that are trying to use the charter system to rip off the public. Without proper regulations, says Resseger, charter schools also lack a certain accountability to the state for the quality of education being offered. Charter schools are essentially independent public schools that operate outside of the bureaucracy that can stifle innovation in traditional public schools. Charter schools set operational and academic goals. If the schools fail to meet those goals, they are closed by the state.