I have heard a lot of people here say they would consider a local charter school. What kind of research have you done about the school and charter school policies? I know about some our state policies but not sure what makes a charter appealing and what research goes into it.
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I work in a charter high school. They have to follow similar regulations but are not governed by a school district. The individual charter makes the difference on what the school is like and what their philosophies are. In our state they have to be run on a lottery acceptance policy. We have 200 spots for incoming freshmen and still have 600+ on our wait list.
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I guess to answer your question, start by looking at the school website is what I would do.
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@T.H.O.U.: in NY State at least they are state funded but do not follow state curriculum. But I do believe testing standards are the same. Some are lottery based, some district/town based and others are exam based.
Not all charter schools are created equal. I almost feel like when charter schools just started they were really a elite class. Now there are SO many of them that they are not all that great.
Your best bet really is to ask local parents and see if any one sends their kids to a charter school. Or if you know any local teacher friends. I don't know if there's a standard rating system for charters like there is for public schools?
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@bpcmarj: I know one of our big state regulation differences is that their "class size" is really a school average rather than an individual class size ratio. That scares me a lot.
@bpcmarj: how long has the school been open? I agree the individual charter makes a difference. I have heard about a lot of charters popping up and then closing very quickly in a few years when it doesn't work out.
@locavore_mama: curriculum would be a huge question for me (at any school really). I also think our charters get evaluated the same way public schools do.
What about teacher qualifications. Are there differences there?
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My son (sixth grade) goes to a charter school. We love it, I had him in public, and a Christian private school as well the charter is by far the best.
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@T.H.O.U.: From what I know, charters can be a gamble. There are great ones, I'm sure. But, there are others I've heard about that don't keep great records so come graduation time students don't have proper documentation to prove they are supposed to be allowed to graduate. Or they shut down after not many years and when they shut down finding student records can be tricky. As far as curriculum and teacher credentials, it seems to vary by state.
This might be a good read: https://www.floridaschoolchoice.org/information/charter_schools/faqs.asp
And a bit more about teachers: http://www.alleducationschools.com/education-careers/article/charter-school-teacher
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Most charters have a main reason for being there. One in our area does project based learning, which wouldn't be a good fit for D. The other in our area is more child led learning. they take your kid's interests and really help develop them and use them for teaching. They don't have a great gifted and talented program though, so it's not a good fit for D either.
You just really have to look into them and see what they're all about.
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@T.H.O.U.: the first graduatin class was 2001. Now they have 2 campuses and just had the first graduation for the new campus. There is 100 kids per grade which is significantly smaller than the local HS. I may be biased because this school is one of the top schools in the country.
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@locavore_mama: actually--that may only be true in some cases. There is a charter school network on the easy coast with many schools in NY and they do follow the common core standards.
Typically charters receive state and federal funding and must adhere to the same state testing requirements and rules for accountability as public schools. Generally they do have to follow hiring requirements for No Child Left Behind and teachers do have to be degreed and certified. Charters can be a gamble though. Some are far superior to any public school, while others fall significantly short.
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