What exactly is a charter school?

[Anonymous]

I've heard and read about charter schools but I don't really know what they are. Are they part of the public school system? If so, how are they different than a regular public school?

[Anonymous]

Charter schools are public schools. They are free and open to any child, and have to accept any child. (But the popular ones are often oversubscribed so they have to do lotteries.) Charters are autonomous in some ways and not in others: In the case of DC, They still have to administer federal tests (no child left behind), but beyond that, they operate outside of the DCPS system so they aren't bound by teacher union contracts, or DCPS Central Office rules.

They are governed by a charter school board that tracks the school's progress, finances, and has the power to both grant and revoke a schools right to operate.

[Anonymous]

to add on to PP: a lot of charter schools seem to have uniforms. I kind of like this, as clothes can highlight class differences and cause distractions. Also, some charter schools operate in facilities that are not like typical schools, so they may not have gyms, libraries, etc. Most don't offer sports or other extracurricular programs, so if things like that are important, you'd probably want to look elsewhere. Some schools have extended-day or extended-school-year programs. Some are independent and some are run by companies who run many branches of the school. There can be huge differences in quality.

I think US News magazine recently published their schools issue and there were a couple of articles on choosing the right charter school for your child. It also talked so some families who sent their children to different schools (parochial, private, public, charter) depending on their skills, interests and temperaments.

[Anonymous]

This is a guide specific to DC. Page 8 gives brief summary on choice.

http://www.fightforchildren.org/pdf/GreatSchools_DCChooser-EngBook.pdf

Basically, saying "charter" is like saying "private" school. Every one is different. Even schools managed by the same organization or company can vary widely in performance. It's hard to draw any conclusions across "some", "many", or "most" charters other than the fact that the schools are free and receive some public funding.

HTH

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Charter schools are public schools. They are free and open to any child, and have to accept any child. (But the popular ones are often oversubscribed so they have to do lotteries.) Charters are autonomous in some ways and not in others: In the case of DC, They still have to administer federal tests (no child left behind), but beyond that, they operate outside of the DCPS system so they aren't bound by teacher union contracts, or DCPS Central Office rules.

They are governed by a charter school board that tracks the school's progress, finances, and has the power to both grant and revoke a schools right to operate.

state tests

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:This is a guide specific to DC. Page 8 gives brief summary on choice.

http://www.fightforchildren.org/pdf/GreatSchools_DCChooser-EngBook.pdf

Basically, saying "charter" is like saying "private" school. Every one is different. Even schools managed by the same organization or company can vary widely in performance. It's hard to draw any conclusions across "some", "many", or "most" charters other than the fact that the schools are free and receive some public funding.

HTH

not like private, paid for with public funds, open to all students, obligated to use the state assessments

[Anonymous]

They are public schools because they receive public funds and they have to administer state tests. However, they get to do a lot of things public schools don't. They get to design their own programs, hire whichever teachers they want without having to follow union seniority rules, design their own curricula, chose their hours and calendar, etc.

Students come from all over the city (being in the neighborhood doesn't get you any special privileges or rights to attend).

In DC, some of the very best charters resemble some top private schools. And, like private schools each one is different so you have to research them carefully.

Some of the newer charter schools in DC have some very special and compelling program offerings which the regular public schools can't match. For example, there is a spanish immersion Montessori program (LAMB), 2 expeditionary learning outward bound programs (Capital City and 2 Rivers), a Mandarin immersion school (Yu Ying), a classical curriculum (Washington Latin), a year-round program (E.L. Haynes), and a french and spanish immersion school (Elsie Stokes). All of these schools are extremely popular and have lotteries to admit their students.

[Anonymous]

friends of choice in urban schools has great info on dc charters focusdc.org
our child is in charter and we love it.