Foster City Islander Article - 09-27-2006

ABCs of Charter Schools

With all the current excitement about a charter public high school in Foster City, many people want to better understand how charter schools compare to traditional district schools.

Most importantly, all charter schools are public schools. Like all public schools, they are open to all students, do not charge tuition and receive financial support from tax revenues.

The major purpose of charter public schools is to promote improvements in all of public education. Many progressive learning methods that have proven their value in charter schools can be transferred to traditional district schools and other charter schools.

Parents, teachers and community leaders must work together to create a charter public school. To secure the required authorization, its organizers describe the goals and operating plan for the charter school in an agreement (the "charter") with the school district where the school is located.

Founders of charter public schools are striving to create innovative educational alternatives for students, teachers and parents. This is possible because charter schools are exempt from many of the bureaucratic restrictions that confront traditional public schools.

Charter public schools participate in all statewide assessment tests, and local boards of education review their progress. Otherwise, charter schools have their own governing boards and operate independently of local school districts.

This autonomy enables charter public schools to use more creative teaching methods and encourage greater parent participation, inspiring students and improving their learning. As a result, the number of charter schools continues to grow by about 10 percent a year in California, where nearly 600 charter schools are now educating more than 200,000 students.

http://www.fchighschool.org/.