Charter Schools vs. Public Schools

I don’t have personal experience with Charter schools but I certainly read a lot about them here. Minnesota was the first state to charter public schools. http://www.mncharterschools.org/aboutcs_overview.htm

I do know that as a public school they must follow IEP and the whole law thing.

I do know that there is one highly respected one here open specifically for children with learning differences. It was recommended for my younger child but he was too old.

I know that lots and lots and lots of them have financial difficulites and end up going out of business in three or four years. Make sure the top people uderstand finance!

In general, the MN ones seem to do poorly on standard tests. That might be the special populations in them though. I’d like to see stats with that factored in, but haven’t.

Check it out very carefully and let us know what you find.

Barb

Well there is quite a variation in charter schools. Some are quite a bit better than the public schools and some are a bit worse. Sometimes the parents of kids in charter schools have gone school shopping with a result that the number of schools many of the kids have gone to is quite high. Others do have a very high no. of special ed. students, where the percentage may be quite high but the amount of special services may just not be adequate. I don’t think there is a single rule.

Do a search for the charter school in question, ask questions, etc.
One thing I have noticed is that many of the charter schools are not doing the horrendous “whole language” anyway. That’s something.

—des

Thank you both so much for your replies. I have been researching and debating for over a month now, and just keep on trying to find out more. I agree that the variation in quality in charter schools is huge. There is an established charter school in my town that is highly academic, and only the best and brightest go there. This charter school I am looking at is more geared to trying to engage and challenge all levels of learners. They were grilled the other night at an informational meeting about how they attend to the needs of the upper 5% and lower 5% of learners. I think the principal answered intelligently and honestly, which makes me more interested. This is the opening year for the charter, which makes me concerned. Very little in the way of facts available. Anyway, we shall see. If anyone has more they feel I should know, I am all ears! Thanks again! Marie-

My child goes to a charter school. There have been advantages and disadvantages. One advantage is that most kids have caring parents, so homework is done, etc., which probably makes achievement a little higher. We had a LMB trained LD teacher last year, but they did not renew her contract and hired a whole language LD teacher this year, so needless to say, it was a disappointing year in that respect. You have more stability in a public school than in a new charter school, but I figured the trade-offs were worth it. Every charter school is different just like every public and private school. You just have to see who will be working there and find out the educational philosophy or curriculum that will be used.

Janis